All educational institutions strive to provide the best educational experience for both students and faculty. Well, at least that’s the impression created by administrators, spokesmen, the court system and idealists. As a freshman, I have memories of myopic high school administrators and teachers, with the expressed goal of educating the young to become active citizens, trampling on the basic principles of such an educational experience. In a sense, they wanted us all to be great citizens without allowing us to experience citizenship.
University spokesmen constantly tell students and parents that the University has the ideal environment to foster a rich educational experience. And to some extent that is true. There is a free-flowing exchange of ideas on campus and students have a number of rights that simply do not exist in many other educational settings.
Judging by how smoothly the University sailed through the recent Divestment Conference, the expression policy does not seem to impinge on freedom of expression. Assistant General Counsel Donica Thomas Varner said that the goal of the University’s expression policies is to set forth guidelines to allow for the productive exchange of ideas for protestors and for speakers. Varner went on to say that the University does not seek to create a “politically correct” environment or establish acceptable speech guidelines. These are all the things that an idealistic college student wants to hear. But, Varner went on to say that freedom of speech is a right that has to be used responsibly.
What does that mean? Well, it’s not entirely clear. The University has a sexual harassment policy that is vague. The definition includes “conduct which results in negative effects even though such negative effects were unintended.” It goes on to say that an incident will be deemed sexual harassment “if a reasonable person … would consider it sufficiently severe or pervasive to interfere unreasonably with academic performance or participation …”
This policy is especially frightening in light of some incidents in the University’s past. For example, in 1988, the Office of Affirmative Action issued a speech code that specified prohibited conduct. Prohibited conduct included saying, “Women just aren’t as good in this field as men.” There was actually a section titled “You Are a Harasser When…” Jokes about gays and lesbians were prohibited as well as displaying the Confederate Flag on a residence hall door.
Based upon what I know about American government, Americans enjoy various rights such as the Freedom of Speech, the Freedom to Bear Arms and so on. I have not yet heard about the right to never be offended. Thankfully this code was ruled unconstitutional in federal court.
The University received national attention in 1992 when portions of an exhibit on prostitution were taken down because they were perceived as offensive. Supposedly Law Prof. Catherine MacKinnon, who has been named “censor of the year” in the past by the ACLU, was behind the altering of the exhibit. MacKinnon said the incident was “a witch hunt by First Amendment fundamentalists who are persecuting and blacklisting dissident … as art censors.” While the ACLU may have used the event to target MacKinnon, her desire to create a politically correct environment in which no one is ever offended is irresponsible from an educational standpoint.
And then of course there was “English 317: How to be Gay.” Prof. David Halperin offered this course it explore gay culture and the impact it has had on literature. Regents candidates, many of whom were running for re-election that year, were livid, and members of the state legislature tried to take away University funds. These politicians were in a sense trying to gain control over what is taught here, impinging on academic freedom and educational exploration so that they could win an election.
Supporting the right of people to express themselves does not mean supporting what they say. Academic freedom is the freedom to explore ideas. It allows individuals and organizations to say what they think and challenging them when they’re wrong.
Pesick is an LSA freshman and a member of the Daily’s editorial board.