Table of Contents
Peter Wood on 'Affirmative Action Bake Sales'
National Association of Scholars President Peter Wood discusses "affirmative action bake sales," names several schools that have tried to censor them over the years in violation of students' freedom of speech (such as at University of California, Irvine and Bucknell), and presents his view of the larger context that too often leads administrators to try to censor and punish such political theater. "Any form of imposed civility that would try to foreclose offensive speech is doomed to fail," Wood says, "since all it does is establish the boundary that someone will break. ... When we recognize speech as offensive, we shouldn’t think that we have therefore anesthetized people against its sting. It will sting, at least if it is done right."
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.
A third of Stanford students say using violence to silence speech can be acceptable
FIRE used polling data before and after the judge’s visit to map out how a high-profile heckler’s veto changed Stanford’s free speech climate.
Stanford president and provost cheer free expression in open letter to incoming class
The letter is a ringing embrace of the importance of free speech to the mission of a university.
FIRE survey shows Judge Duncan shoutdown had ‘chilling effect’ on Stanford students
According to a new FIRE survey, conservative students self-censored more often after the shoutdown than before the shoutdown.
USC canceling valedictorian’s commencement speech looks like calculated censorship
The university’s move, citing vague ‘safety concerns’ appears designed to placate critics of the student’s Israel criticism.