Is Freedom of Speech Dead on College Campuses?

One of the many unintended, and sometimes intended, consequences of our turbulent times may be the death of freedom of speech on college campuses. Much has been discussed about our increasingly angry, aggressive, easy-to-offend, and quick-to-cancel environment. Social media has given everyone a bullhorn to lash out at others who they might dislike or disagree with. Donors, alumni, and parents of students certainly do not like negative press about their schools. Thus, for many colleges, good public relations may trump efforts to support freedom of speech.

Much has been written about these concerns. Even television shows, such as The Chair, cover these issues in a way that seems more like a documentary than fiction. Talking to colleagues privately suggests to me that they are afraid. Even tenured full professors with job security feel scared and threatened by the climate of the moment. They fully realize that they are just one angry and inflammatory tweet away from total disaster and potentially an ugly national story. A word or phrase that is taken out of context, an opinion or point of view that is unpopular, or an innocent error all can result in ruin, loss of employment, and even death threats. Therefore, too many people stay silent, fail to express their viewpoints, or refuse to engage in thoughtful and respectful dialogue. The result: Perhaps the death of freedom of speech as we know it on campuses, something that we have taken for granted for generations.

In recent years, I was invited to lead efforts to establish civility principles and policies for the American Psychological Association chairing a working group to do so. You would think that psychologists would not need any guidance about civility and appropriate human interactions but they indeed do. After our work was published, I was inundated with requests from other groups requesting to borrow our civility guidelines. It seemed that many diverse organizations had the same problems and desperately needed guidance. I had become a “civil engineer” or a “civil servant.”

While basic civility in our culture has eroded in recent years, some people bristle at the very idea of civility guidelines and expectations. They point out that civility is often used as a weapon to oppress minority viewpoints and marginalized communities. They have an excellent point. However, when civility efforts are motivated by a deep respect for everyone then civility is a helpful tool rather than a manipulative means to quiet minority views. However, basic civility is a rather low bar for expected social behavior. Can we do better? If we truly want to enjoy freedom of speech, even when people might vigorously disagree with each other, then we need to build upon our civility foundation that highlights respect for all and move strategically and in a stepwise manner to hospitality, solidarity, and then to kinship.

Hospitality is an effort to be gracious, welcoming, and attentive to the consideration of others. A spirit or charism of hospitality is friendly, open, and respectful. Solidarity suggests that our struggles and engagements must be managed with mutual support with no one person or group being superior or more important than any other person or group. Someone’s grief, for example, should be a concern for all. Finally, kinship involves a level of respect and compassion that goes far beyond the expectations of civility and speaks to seeing others as brothers and sisters. If we see each other as family, then we treat others more thoughtfully, humanely, and with much more care and concern.

While this process and perspective might seem pie in the sky driven by naiveté or an overly optimistic view of human nature, 30 years of teaching at Santa Clara University, a Jesuit and Catholic university located in Silicon Valley, has inspired me to work to achieve this goal. I know that it is aspirational and that it takes vigilant hard work. Yet, it is critical that we do it. In current times, there is little hope for freedom of speech unless we all push back when any perceived misstep or viewpoint that is contrary to others with power, or a popular social media account, dares step out of line.

Unless we embrace civility, hospitality, solidarity, and ultimately kinship with each other, no matter how hard it is to pursue these aspirations, we may forever lose our freedom of speech for good. Then, colleges, for example, would lose their true value.