President Trump Demands Free Speech in Universities

Hat tip Anonymous


The below two links were sent in today by an anonymous reader. This is something I consider as an important development in improving our universities and protecting free speech. Per his executive order (see first link below), the President has put universities on notice that if they expect to continue receiving federal funding, they must insure that everybody-including conservatives- has the right to enjoy free speech protections on campus.


https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/media/White%20House%20Executive%20Order.pdf

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/UC-Berkeley-in-spotlight-as-Trump-expected-to-13704663.php

Though UC Berkeley is in the spotlight here for good reason, the problem exists almost everywhere in academia. Most of the executive order concerns efforts to lower the coat of tuition, which is also a valid concern. I could have suggested that the cost of college could be drastically lowered by eliminating useless departments like ethnic studies, women's studies, gender studies, and Middle East studies (in its current Pan-Arab, anti-Israel, anti-West form). That would save a lot of 6-figure salaries for deans, their assistants, and other bureaucrats.

As for the free speech angle, I wish the order had gone into greater specificity. In other words, universities could have been put on notice that if certain groups have their events disrupted, or they have their speakers cancelled, or roadblocks like high security deposits are put in place, they risk losing federal funds. If Jewish and pro-Israel students continued to be harassed, no more funding. If campus police cannot or will not effectively enforce the law and protect all students, no more funds.

As always, the government must exercise care in controlling education. This should not be a tool to rid universities of all their liberal professors. There is, however, an old adage: If you take someone;s money, expect they will have a voice in how it is spent. Universities are under no compulsion to accept federal dollars. What is being said here is that the federal government can be in the business of funding education, but it doesn't want to fund indoctrination.

Final comment: Kudos to the College Republicans, a once moribund organization, that is now making real change possible for free speech advocates. They are the hope for the future of the Republican party, which has too many fossils sitting in Washington.