Saturday, December 03, 2022

UT System approves commitment to free speech, even if most students find that speech “offensive” or “immoral”

Friends:

I've been tracking this—and just catching up to the latest here in Texas on free speech. Adopting the Chicago Statement is a great move in the right direction as it supports free speech by university faculty. According to scholars Berube and Ruth (2022), extremist campaigns against free speech work to create the impression that the university is little different from the marketplace of journalism when it is. 

Berube and Ruth argue that the academic freedom that we professors not solely enjoy, but earn through our formal training as scholars and researchers, is "vetted speech" when we speak from our own expertise. 

According to these scholars, and as mentioned in my earlier post, "both-sidism" is an untenable proposition. It is the misguided notion that impartiality, where one speaks even-handedly to "both sides" of an issue, is a balanced view. However, it is not sustainable when considering that not all opinions are equal, on the one hand, and when there can be many sides to an issue, on the other.

This statement lends important support to existing state policy, namely, Senate Bill 18 passed in the 86th (2019) Texas Legislative Session by Republicans in response to attempts in recent years, to silence conservative voices.

I had learned previously of the Chicago Statement and thought, "It would be so great if UT could adopt this." And it just happened for the entire UT System, literally a few days ago! 

It protects free speech for academics across the political spectrum that at least for now, provides a great deal of support and backing for the work that we all do—and the voice that we give to that work. 

Of course, the UT System knows that failing to protect free speech is anathema to democracy, and ending it would irreparably cripple higher education in Texas. My wishes don't often become true so quickly, so life is good right now.

I pray that this very positive development means one less fight in the next session of the legislature that begins soon in January. We can only hope.

-Angela Valenzuela

References

Bérubé, M., & Ruth, J. (2022). It's Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.


UT System approves commitment to free speech, even if most students find that speech “offensive” or “immoral”

The Board of Regents adopted the Chicago Statement, a free speech policy created by the University of Chicago in 2014. More than 90 institutions have adopted the statement.


Protesters gather in front of the UT Tower to protest President Donald Trump's inauguration in 2017. The UT System Board of Regents approved a commitment to free speech Thursday. Credit:Shelby Knowles for The Texas Tribune

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