Public support for campus free speech is an essential qualification for college presidents
Boston Globe | Harvey Silverglate (HLS ‘67)
FIRE co-founder, criminal defense and civil liberties lawyer, and HLS alum Harvey Silverglate argues, “It should be made clear by presidential search committees that an important — indeed, essential — qualification for the position is a vigorous and public support for academic freedom in the form of free speech on campus. It should be specified that any applicant who disagrees with this central principle need not bother to apply. It is time for academic freedom to be more than merely decoration.”
With a number of college president positions to be filled, including at Harvard, Silverglate stresses “the opportunity for these colleges to do a major re-set of the path down which American higher education has been traveling in recent years.”
Silverglate explains that “college presidents have been in a position to protect the rights of faculty and students, yet they have utterly failed in this mission…it is no secret that academic freedom, a long revered and honored principle, has come under serious attack.”
As for the reason why? Silverglate says, “It is not at all clear whether this is because academic leaders are in fact no longer devoted to these fundamental academic precepts, or whether they have simply feared swimming against the current.” He goes on to cite the recent examples including the disinvitation of Dorian Abbot by MIT, the Ilya Shapiro’s castigation at Georgetown, and the “China Kinda Sus” student free speech issue at Emerson.
Related:
The Harvard Bait & Switch: Harvey Silverglate on the University's Free Speech Fakery (2013)
