Stanford Faculty Say Anonymous Student Bias Reports Threaten Free Speech [Harvard has them, too].
Last month, a Stanford student seen reading Mein Kampf was reported through the school’s ‘Protected Identity Harm’ system. Through the system, students can anonymously report a Protected Identity Harm Incident “defined as conduct targeting an individual or group on the basis of characteristics including race or sexual orientation.” An inquiry is then triggered.
Until the recent incident, Stanford faculty say they were unaware the system existed, with one stunned professor likening it to McCarthyism. Another “said the bias-reporting system reminded him of the way citizens were encouraged to inform on one another by governments in the Soviet Union, East Germany and China.”
Yet Stanford is far from alone— “About half of college campuses have [a bias reporting system]…more than twice as many as five years ago—according to a 2022 survey by Speech First.”
[According to the survey, Harvard has a Bias Reporting System, including an anonymous reporting form with contact information leading students to the Director of Diversity Education and Support.]
“The Stanford faculty’s effort is part of broader pushback against bias-reporting systems around the country… Free-speech advocates have taken several schools to court and forced them to change their systems, alleging they inhibit the exchange of ideas… After Speech First challenged bias-response systems at the University of Texas, the University of Michigan and the University of Central Florida, all three schools changed or disbanded their systems.”
According to the article, The Goldwater Institute, FIRE, and the Alumni Free Speech Alliance have all spoken out against bias-reporting mechanisms.
Related/Updates:
The B.E.S.T. Microaggression Training You’ve Never Heard Of, Part 2 (Free Black Thought, 6/12/23)— watch the full conversation
Bias-Response Teams Are a Bad Idea (Chronicle, 6/5/23)
As colleges become more Stasi-like, students live in fear of being reported (2/20/23)
