America’s leading universities have been under tremendous pressure to prove that they’re addressing rising antisemitism. That’s led to some positive changes, like inviting a wider range of speakers to campus. But it has also resulted in performative measures that border on censorship, like New York University’s decision to end live speeches at some of its graduation ceremonies this spring.
The understandable goal is to prevent a repeat of what happened last May when a graduating NYU student went off script to decry “genocide” in Gaza, overshadowing a special ceremony for many families. Now, a university dean has told a graduating senior in the education school that her speech will be “professionally recorded” to ensure she sticks to a preapproved script.
This is a lazy way to prevent more embarrassment because it avoids addressing the fundamental problem, which is that universities still need to do a better job of preparing students to engage in civil and respectful discourse once they enter the real world.
There are good times, places and manners for debating Middle Eastern politics. A graduation ceremony is not one of them.
Academic freedom is an important value, but too many elite college campuses became crucibles of conformity in recent years. People with unpopular ideas too often got shouted down or even canceled. Criticizing Israel became a shibboleth.
The solution is not to shut down live speeches. It’s to teach kids that using a graduation ceremony to scream and yell about their personal political views is a stupid and ineffective way to make the world a better place.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression says that it’s ultimately up to the university how it wants to format its ceremonies, which is correct, and that it’s good to allow community members to “express themselves liberally on campus.”
A good first step is to crack down on hecklers’ vetoes. Last year the law school tried to cancel an event with conservative lawyer Ilya Shapiro scheduled for the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks, citing safety concerns. That event was reinstated amid backlash to the backlash.
The best way forward is to allow the airing of good and bad ideas, and let the best triumph.
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