Christopher Brown, the esteemed historian of slavery and abolition at Columbia University, recently spoke, draped in his Oxford University gown, at a rally in support of the student protesters on campus. He also said Columbia president Minouche Shafik should be […]
free speech
The Author’s Corner with Anthony G. Roeber
Anthony G. Roeber is Professor of Church History at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. This interview is based on his new book, Orthodox Christians and the Rights Revolution in America (Fordham University Press, 2024). JF: What led you to write Orthodox […]
Ben Sasse: “Harvard, Princeton, and Yale were originally founded as seminaries. They are seminaries once again.”Â
While I probably wouldn’t call early Harvard, Princeton, and Yale “seminaries,” I take Ben Sasse‘s point. As some of you recall, Sasse left the United States Senate earlier this year and became president of the University of Florida. Here is […]
Is bad history protected under the free speech clause of the First Amendment?
I mentioned this story in today’s Evangelical Roundup, but I thought it deserved its own post. In case you missed it, David Barton, the political activist who uses the American past to promote his Christian Right agenda, is suing the […]
The elite university presidents who testified before Congress are taking the heat
I have yet to watch the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn testify before Congress on the matter of campus antisemitism. But it does not look very good. This clip is pretty damning: The blowback has been strong and bipartisan. […]
Conor Friedersdorf: “Students for Pogroms in Israel”
If you haven’t seen it yet, The Atlantic writer Conor Firedersdorf has written a critique of student activists who are “excusing murder and kidnapping” in Israel. Here is a taste of “Students for Pogroms in Israel“: Across America, millions of […]
The “thought criminals” gather
Here is Emma Green at The New Yorker: Every month, more than two hundred people from the media, academia, and other intellectual circles are invited to a private hangout in New York City, which is known as the Gathering of […]
Do journalists have more freedom than professors?
Ross Douthat begins his recent New York Times piece by engaging with the recent pushback against “wokeness” on university campuses. If what is happening on the campuses of Stanford, Harvard, Penn State, Cornell, and Vanderbilt is any indication, and Columbia’s […]
The Washington Post praises recent moves to defend free speech on college campuses
Last month I wrote a post about Cornell University’s decision to reject a student resolution requiring faculty to issue trigger warnings for “traumatic conflict in the classroom.” Yesterday The Washington Post editorial board praised the Cornell decision and others like […]
The Author’s Corner with Samantha Barbas
Samantha Barbas is Professor of Legal History and Director of the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy at the University at Buffalo School of Law. This interview is based on her new book, Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom […]
Why did Princeton fire Joshua Katz?
Princeton University just fired a tenured classic professor. Read about it here. And now read Katz’s view of his firing at The Wall Street Journal: Nearly two years ago, I wrote in these pages, “I survived cancellation at Princeton.” I was […]
Charlie Kirk is not the only one creating watchlists and encouraging students to record their teachers. Putin is also doing it.
Charlie Kirk and his gang at Turning Point USA are not the only ones encouraging students to record teachers and create watchlists of unpatriotic educators . So is Vladimir Putin and his Russian henchmen. Here is Jeanne Whalen at The […]
A conservative academic changes his mind about safe spaces
Here is Jon Shields of Claremont-McKenna College: Like other conservative professors who are advocates of free speech on campus, I once opposed efforts to create a classroom climate in which students are protected from speech they find emotionally upsetting, ranging […]
The Author’s Corner with Kristin A. Olbertson
Kristin A. Olbertson is Associate Professor of History and Pre-Law Program Coordinator at Alma College. This interview is based on her new book, The Dreadful Word: Speech Crime and Polite Gentlemen in Massachusetts, 1690–1776 (Cambridge University Press, 2022). JF: What […]
Does America have a free speech problem?
The editorial board of The New York Times thinks so. Here is a taste of yesterday’s editorial: For all the tolerance and enlightenment that modern society claims, Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free […]
A University of Virginia student on the lack of intellectual diversity in American higher education
Emma Camp is just one voice at one school–the University of Virginia. I am sure campus progressives–students and especially faculty members–will dismiss her recent New York Times op-ed. When this post hits my Facebook page, I imagine a few academics […]
Will Christian colleges and universities survive?
There is A LOT to consider in Catholic moral philosopher Charles Camosy‘s recent piece at America. Here is a section that got my attention: As institutions’ connections to Christianity become frayed, other ideologies have gained ground. Too often, Christian values […]
Why the ACLU supports the flying of a Christian flag in front of Boston’s City Hall
Here is David Cole of the American Civil Liberties Union: The ACLU has long fought to enforce the separation of church and state. We were the plaintiff in both Allegheny County v. ACLU and McCreary County v. ACLU, in which the Supreme Court held […]