Free Speech and Campuses

Historiann supports the rights of universities to maintain and enforce codes of conduct:  yes, you have a right as a citizen to say that, but a student saying that becomes incompatible with being a part of our university community. She disagrees fundamentally with an argument by a fellow historian that says, hey, First Amendment.

What's really impressive is the comments she has accumulated:  a civil, articulate, committed discussion of the pros and cons, mostly disagreeing with her.  The counter-argument, at the level of principle, is mostly that universities do have the right to require conduct that facilitates the educational goals of the university, but that since rough speech doesn't really interfere with those goals, there are no grounds for sanctioning it.

Chez Historiann, it's mostly a Planet America discussion; the Dalhousie dental school is not on the radar. In Canada we have, I think, a much broader tolerance for limiting hurtful speech.  But the issues are as alive.

Partly I'm just impressed to see a comments section that does not descend into drivel and irrelevance after about 2 comments at most.  Hmm