” Fox News reports that Ilya Shapiro, a former Georgetown University law professor, is speaking his mind about how many universities are not providing authentic free speech arenas on many campuses throughout the country. Shapiro feels that many university officials on campuses today are simply bowing to the pressure of the woke mob to go along with whatever ideology of the day they might possess.
Shapiro said:
“University officials … are spineless cowards unwilling to enforce their own rules when they’re violated by students, much less administrators,”
March 21, 2023
Stanford University’s Federalist Society chapter recently invited Judge Kyle Duncan of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to speak to the college’s law school on March 9. However, that individual was heckled by many students in attendance to the point that he couldn’t get a word out.
GONE TOO SOON: NYPD MOURNS FALLEN OFFICER AFTER FATAL CONFRONTATION, IS BIDEN'S AMERICA TO BLAME?
Shapiro said: “People should be allowed to protest … but hecklers shutting down events. That does not counter free speech,” and “That imposes on others free speech.”
Stanford DEI Associate Dean Tirien Steinbach followed what many heckling students said at the lecture. Steinbach agreed that the judge’s decisions had caused harm, and they stated that it was reasonable and acceptable that the students would be upset by this and want to protest everything that the judge was trying to say.
GONE TOO SOON: NYPD MOURNS FALLEN OFFICER AFTER FATAL CONFRONTATION, IS BIDEN'S AMERICA TO BLAME?
Steinbach even questioned the university’s free speech policies and wondered if inviting the judge to speak there had been a mistake. In other words, it seems that this individual feels that it might be more reasonable to roll back free speech policies instead of letting someone speak that they happen to disagree.
No matter where you come down on these questions, few doubt that allowing people to speak about the opinions that they happen to hold is something that most of us would agree is worthwhile.