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Writings

Defend Free Speech and Academic Freedom. It’s Not Hard – If You Believe In It.

The ongoing protests at northeastern campuses are a symptom of a larger lack of commitment by the last few generations of administrators to free speech and academic freedom. Both public and private universities have gotten away with a loose-goosey approach on campus speech for decades, so, predictably, they respond with inconsistency and arbitrary action when […]

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Writings

It’s Almost If…

…riot police on your campus is not a good look. UT-Austin, by the way. It’s almost as if committing to free speech on your campus is completely performative. The faculty seem to have noticed. Once again, BS like this is easy to avoid. Defend free speech. It’s not complex.

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Politics Short Essays Writings

It’s A Trap, or, Why Going to Congress Is a Bad Idea

Several high-profile university presidents went before Congress this week and got eviscerated for apparent latent antisemitism. These events, by themselves, are not notable or unpredictable, but I saw an interesting sidebar today in the Times on their attempts at prepping, via lawyers. Top-level university administrators spend an inordinate amount of their work hours talking to […]