Why Campus Speech is Vexing

The Hamas-Israel war has caused so much turmoil on campuses partly because it has highlighted a tension that university administrators haven’t fully acknowledged.

Many colleges have embraced broad notions of safety in recent years, promising to make their students feel comfortable and welcome. The goal is in many ways understandable, especially for students who find campuses to be uneasy places because they are among the first in their families to attend college. One way to make students feel safe, schools have decided, is to restrict speech that upsets students.

By now, you have no doubt heard about some of the examples, most of which involve sanctions on conservative expression. M.I.T., for instance, disinvited a geophysicist from giving a lecture because he criticized aspects of affirmative action. But there have also been restrictions on left-leaning expression: Late in the Covid pandemic, M.I.T. barred students from asking others to wear a mask.

Expression is safety

Either way, a basic tension exists. Maximizing everybody’s sense of safety and comfort is often impossible. On many of society’s biggest political issues, the expression of certain views will make some students feel uncomfortable. Yet the restriction of those same views will make others feel uncomfortable — because the ability to speak honestly about important issues is a part of feeling welcome in a community.

The Covid mask debate is a useful example. Being around unmasked classmates who might spread germs makes some students feel uncomfortable. And being pressured to cover your face with a mask for months on end makes others feel uncomfortable. Neither group is necessarily wrong. Each has different priorities.

There are plenty of other examples. Debates over affirmative action are often struggles about whether colleges should enroll more or fewer students from different groups — Asian, Black, Hispanic and white. Strong opinions will make some students feel more or less welcome on a campus.