For another example of intolerance toward free expression, we don’t need to travel far. It occurred a few days ago on the University at Albany campus.
Conservative writer and podcaster Ian Haworth was set to give a talk on the importance of… irony alert… free speech when a mob stormed into the room and began chanting witticisms such as “Ian sucks.” After about an hour of such nonsense, campus police brought Haworth to a smaller room where he delivered a shortened version of a speech arguing that campuses should, as he put it, “allow people of all viewpoints to interact so that ideas can flourish.”
In other words, Haworth spoke against a growing intolerance that scraps honest debate and demands conformity, which hardly seems controversial. But that’s what the mob refused to hear — and tried to prevent everyone else from hearing.
There is ample video of the Tuesday disruption, of course, and what struck me when watching was the laziness and cowardice of the protesters. Standing up before a crowd to deliver a speech requires courage and many hours of preparation. Standing up to challenge a speaker with a tough question also requires a bit of bravery, along with the knowledge needed to hold up one side of the debate.
But chanting inane slogans is the easy way out, requiring no daring or backbone. The mentality of the mob is disrespected for good reason. It’s so often dumb.
“Ian sucks! Ian sucks! Ian sucks!”
Thankfully, there’s growing recognition that campus intolerance is a significant problem. After Stanford law students recently shouted down a conservative judge, the university’s president issued a much-publicized apology for the “corrosive conduct” while stressing the importance of intellectual curiosity and “assuming good intent in the people one disagrees with and giving them grace.”
Much closer to home, Skidmore College…
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