Northwestern University has been eerily quiet when controversial speakers come to campus – former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro.
And the student government wants to keep it that way.
It passed a resolution that went through four months of drafting, asking the administration “to allow speakers of all viewpoints,” protect them from “threat of disruption” and enforce its own disciplinary policies “should disruption occur.”
Only “peaceful” protests that “adhere” to the student handbook should be allowed, says the resolution. It asks the administration to expand “efforts to include viewpoint and intellectual diversity.”
The resolution starts with two-and-a-half pages of “Whereas” statements, reminding Northwestern of its own promises to the community about freedom of inquiry and protection from censorship and threats at others. Here’s one:
Whereas, universities have rejected the formation of certain student groups because of their political beliefs or viewpoints, including Students for Justice in Palestine at Fordham University, an NAACP chapter at Catholic University, pro-life groups at Johns Hopkins and Gonzaga University, an LGBT group at Hampton University, Christian groups at Princeton and Pace Universities, and finally, Turning Point USA at Northwestern …
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Senator Lauren Thomas told the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education the resolution was a “preemptive” measure to get student leaders on the same page that they oppose speaker disinvitations and shutdown attempts, and want the university to intervene when it happens.
The resolution specifically names former professor Alice Dreger, who edited a bioethics journal that was retroactively censored by the administration.
Thomas said that Northwestern being named to FIRE’s 2016 Worst Schools for Free Speech list – for the Dreger incident and Prof. Laura Kipnis’s Title IX investigation – helped prompt the resolution:
Interested in campus rights issues since her freshman year, Thomas had grown increasingly aware of censorship at other colleges and universities and recognized Northwestern’s policies left room for abuse in the wrong hands.
“In general, I think [Northwestern’s] been pretty welcoming while I’ve been here,” she said of the current campus climate. “But we also have a very civil student body. I don’t think we’ve tested the waters as much.”
And that, Thomas feared, could easily and unpredictably change.
Before she graduates this year, she’s hoping to pass the baton to another student who can improve upon areas the bill left out in the interest of getting enough votes, especially speech codes and Northwestern’s “vague” policy on harassment.
The school earns a “yellow light” rating from FIRE.
Read the resolution and the post.
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