Threats to Free Speech. A recent Chronicle of Higher Education article makes the very good point that the purpose of colleges and universities today, as fraught as their studies are with ideological challenges and speech restrictions, shouldn't be to pursue truth but instead to pursue critical inquiry. Here's the problem, as the article states and demonstrates it: Colleges and universities nationwide no longer focus so much on truth or inquiry as on diversity, citizenship, service, and other social goods. Those social constructs, though, don't necessarily protect truth-seeking speech. Indeed, the article cites another summary showing that bills are pending in thirty-eight states that would gag discussions around race, gender, and history. Those restrictions would add to free speech threats already carried out by the now common campus bias-response teams.

Misconduct Charges as a Result. Free speech threats aren't simply an academic concern. Honor codes and conduct codes requiring students, faculty, and staff to speak and act civilly without offending anyone related to race, ethnicity, sex, orientation, identification, and other protected categories and classes can, in the wrong hands, become veritable speech codes. Say the wrong thing, even in pursuit of critical inquiry rather than intending to offend, and you're in trouble. Colleges and universities can file misconduct charges against students whom other students, professors, or staff members claim offended their protected status. For instance, a searchable database maintained by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) gives a red light to Princeton University, Fordham University, and Boston University for at least one policy that clearly and substantially restricts free speech, and yellow lights to Yale University, Rutgers University, and the University of Wisconsin for at least one code ambiguous enough to encourage free speech abuse.

Free Speech to the Defense. Just because someone at your school claims you offended them in violation of the school's speech code doesn't mean that discipline awaits you. The claimant's offense may even be real and substantial. But students do have free speech rights, as the Supreme Court held again last year in a case involving a student's online use of profanity to criticize her school. Colleges and universities are also seeing mounting costs in defending misconduct charges based on their speech restrictions. Some colleges and universities, like the University of Oregon, are even cautioning their instructors to be careful when attempting to restrict student free speech rights. The tide of speech restrictions hasn't turned, but it may be slowing. If you face misconduct charges related to your free speech, you can do your part to defend critical comment and inquiry on campus. You do have rights.

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