On October 4, Dean of Equity and Inclusion John McKnight proposed the College’s official statement on free speech to the Student Government Association (SGA) and the campus community. The statement–endorsed by the President’s Council on Equity and Inclusion in Spring 2018–was produced after two years of deliberation among students, faculty, staff, alumni, and trustees. Our institutional position on free speech consists of consolidating established policies found in the student handbook with new recommendations put forth by the President’s Council.
According to Dean McKnight, protests at Middlebury over the invitation of controversial speakers to campus spurred Conn to re-evaluate its free speech policies. To McKnight, violent reactions at Middlebury to speakers like Dr. Charles Murray (a social scientist who argues that inequality is caused by the genetic inferiority of the black and Latino communities, women and the poor) highlight the need for more effective channels of communication between diverse groups of students. Conn’s philosophical statement on free speech seeks to foster greater constructive interaction among members of the Conn community:
“Active citizenship requires intellectual and personal engagement across social, political, ideological, and religious differences. It requires a community in which people who hold different perspectives grapple with the difficult work of listening, reflecting, gathering evidence, making arguments, and engaging in constructive, informed, rigorous debate.”
To facilitate meaningful engagement across socio-political lines, Conn would protect the rights of students to speak freely in public spaces–even if the content of their speak is “inflammatory.” As an example, a student organization would be permitted to place a poster or other public notice on campus that includes racial epithets like the “N” word. The club posting the material, however, would be required to include information identifying the notice’s source, including name and email. The prominent placement of this source information would promote a more honest exchange of ideas. This policy reduces anonymous advocacy by making students and organizations transparent about their stated positions and then fostering more critical reflection and constructive criticism by the greater Conn community. According to Dean McKnight, ever since The Day–New London’s daily newspaper–required readers who post comments to disclose their first and last name on the newspaper’s website, fewer people have issued incendiary remarks. He says that the implementation of this new free speech policy at Conn is intended to produce a similar effect.
The protection of hate speech is widely unpopular among members of our age group. A 2015 Pew Research Center poll reported that 40% of millennials think the government should be able to suppress speech deemed offensive to minority groups, as compared to only 12% of those born between 1928 and 1945. Our generation is far less faithful in the merits of free speech than our grandparents. The issue is, of course, that if we don’t protect all speech–even those deemed inflammatory—who fairly determines which groups get special protection and how do we define what speech to suppress? Should Conn’s administration be able to silence arguments against affirmative action? Or about genetic differences between men and women? Or just racist and sexist rants? A standard for suppression of speech affords powerholders dangerously broad discretion that could invite discrimination against particular viewpoints.
For these reasons, Conn’s free speech statement represents important steps toward facilitating necessary and productive dialogue among students invested in building a stronger Conn community.
The Voice represents an important vehicle to promote free speech. As a newspaper, we value the opportunity for all voices to be heard—including those on either side of the political aisle. In the coming weeks, we hope to use the paper as an opportunity for different groups to engage in productive dialogues. We would love for the Connecticut College Conservatives and College Democrats to submit pieces through a format similar to the “Room for Debate” section of The New York Times. In the meantime, we hope that you enjoy this issue and find that it offers a broad range of views, interests, and experiences.
-Dana
