Free Expression and Intellectual Diversity How Florida Universities Currently Measure Up
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POLICY BRIEF Free Expression and Intellectual Diversity How Florida Universities Currently Measure Up William Mattox Director of the J. Stanley Marshall Center for Educational Options iddlebury College. University of California, Berkeley. Evergreen State. MClaremont McKenna. Yale. The list of academic institutions rocked in recent months by (sometimes violent) speech-squelching protests is not pretty. And combined with growing concerns about high student debt and sagging job prospects for many new graduates, these efforts to thwart campus discourse are causing many people – for the first time ever – to question whether higher education is truly worth the investment it requires. www.jamesmadison.org | 1 For example, a 2017 survey by the Pew Research Center found campus craziness presents an opportunity for our state. For if the that 58 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning indepen- Florida higher education system were to become a haven for free dents now believe colleges and universities are having a negative expression and viewpoint diversity – and to become known as effect on the direction of our country. This represents a whop- such – our universities would be very well positioned to meet the ping 21 percent shift since 2015 (when 37 percent of center-right growing demand for intellectually-serious academic study at an Americans viewed the performance of higher education institu- affordable cost. tions negatively).1 In fact, a major 2013 report said as much. Growing skepticism about the current direction of American In 2013, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) higher education isn’t just found among those on the center-right. produced a comprehensive report on the state of higher education For example, a center-left New York University professor named in Florida (with assistance from The James Madison Institute). Jon Haidt teamed with Greg Lukianoff, a former ACLU attorney This 67-page report, entitled “Florida Rising: An Assessment of who now heads the Foundation for Individual Rights in Educa- Public Universities in the Sunshine State,” followed a template tion (FIRE), to write a 2015 article for The Atlantic magazine en- ACTA had used in evaluating higher education systems in a titled, “The Coddling of the American Mind.” The essay, which number of other states. Specifically, ACTA evaluated 10 different became the second-most-cited article in areas related to academic requirements, in- the long history of The Atlantic, direct- tellectual diversity, cost, effectiveness, and ed heavy criticism at “microaggressions,” If the Florida higher governance. “safe spaces,” “trigger warnings,” “speech education system were to As the report’s main title – “Florida Ris- codes,” and other attempts to narrowly de- ing” – suggests, ACTA found the Sunshine fine the boundaries of acceptable discourse become a haven for free State’s system of higher education to be in higher education.2 expression and viewpoint moving swiftly in a positive direction. It Similarly, New York Times columnist concluded: Michelle Goldberg recently decried the diversity – and to become abandonment of free speech protections known as such – our Overall, Florida public universities are on on college campuses, saying that today’s a prudent and successful course during these students are naïve to think that the left will universities would be very difficult economic times. Significant chal- always “be allowed to define what is hateful well positioned to meet lenges and difficult decisions over priorities 3 and what is not.” And progressive colum- the growing demand for remain. It is clear, however, that Florida has nist Catherine Rampell of The Washington the potential to be a model for other states Post recently took aim at the increasing- intellectually-serious (emphasis added).6 ly-common campus practice of “conflating academic study at an mere words with physical assault,” noting According to ACTA, Florida deserved that “if speech is violence, then violence affordable cost. high marks in governance, cost, and effec- becomes a justifiable response to speech.”4 tiveness – findings which no doubt help Against this backdrop, it would be a to explain why several Florida univer- mistake to think that Florida’s public universities are in no way sities regularly appear on “best value” lists compiled by Forbes, threatened by the rise of speech-bullying nationwide. For these Kiplinger, and other college ranking services.7 And while ACTA problems are not confined to elite private schools or to public exposed some gaps in the general education requirements of most universities in “blue” states. Indeed, the fact that Missouri’s flag- Florida universities, it saved its strongest criticism for Florida’s ship state university became the scene of a highly-publicized 2015 record on intellectual diversity. Here, our state’s institutions of speech-squelching incident ought to give pause to Florida leaders higher learning were found to be “failing to protect legitimate – especially since the university’s mishandling of this controversy expression and free speech and actively discouraging a robust ex- spawned a dramatic decline in admissions applications, alumni change of ideas.”8 giving, faculty morale, and student enrollment (and led to the clo- Given this glaring weakness identified in the 2013 report, and sure of two student dormitories and the elimination of numerous the fact that public concerns about viewpoint diversity on col- course offerings).5 lege campuses have risen significantly in the few short years since At the same time, it would be an even bigger mistake for Flor- ACTA’s review, this report will take a fresh look at the state of free ida higher education leaders to approach this topic with fear and speech on Florida campuses today. trembling. Even though it may seem counter-intuitive, all of this It will do so not just because First Amendment protections 2 | POLICY BRIEF | Free Expression & Intellectual Diversity matter generally, but also because freedom of expression and believe them…he must know them in their most plausible and the vigorous exchange of ideas are particularly important to the persuasive form.9 truth-seeking mission of higher education. Without the back and forth of scholarly challenge and debate In updating – and building upon – the – without the rigorous testing of both 2013 ACTA report’s findings on intel- When it comes to commonly-accepted and seemingly-out- lectual diversity, this report will present landish ideas – intellectual weaknesses measuring the true quality some new Florida-specific data designed and “blind spots” rarely get exposed. of a learning institution, to address four key questions: Consequently, students enter post-col- lege life with a warped understanding of conventional measures • How well do Florida universities pro- the world and an inability to deal con- of academic quality are tect free speech? structively with intelligent criticism and • How well do Florida universities cul- dissent. relatively useless if the tivate a campus culture that is truly As John Stuart Mill famously wrote intellectual life of the open to diverse viewpoints? in On Liberty: university is skewed in a • How well have Florida universities responded to serious threats to free He who knows only his own side of manner that (intentionally or expression on their campus, most es- the case knows little of that. His reasons unintentionally) suppresses pecially the use of intimidation to si- may be good, and no one may have been lence others? able to refute them. But if he is equally unfashionable ideas and • How committed are Florida univer- unable to refute the reasons on the op- alternative points of view. sities to higher education’s primary posite side, if he does not so much as mission: truth-seeking? know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion… Nor is it enough that he should As we will see, these four questions align with four different hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented metrics used in an emerging college ranking system devised by as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refu- Heterodox Academy (HA), an ideologically-diverse consortium tations. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually of scholars working to improve viewpoint diversity in their aca- iStockPhoto / benjaminjk www.jamesmadison.org | 3 The Yale Problem Begins in High School by Jonathan Haidt was around 30% non-white, mostly South and East Asians, and some African Americans. A majority said they felt free to speak, A month before the Yale Halloween meltdown, I had a bizarre although a large minority said eggshells] Now just the white stu- and illuminating experience at an elite private high school on the dents? [A large majority said eggshells] West Coast. I’ll call it Centerville High. I gave a version of a talk Me: Now, let’s try it for politics. How many of you would say you on “Coddle U vs. Strengthen U.” that I first gave at Yale a few weeks are on the right politically, or that you are conservative or Repub- earlier. Around 450 students, from grades 9-12, were in the audi- lican? [6 hands went up, out of 60 students]. Just you folks, when torium. There was plenty of laughter at all the right spots, and a politically charged topics come up, can you speak freely? [Only lot of applause at the end, so I thought the talk was well received. one hand went up, but that student clarified that everyone gets Then, the discussion began; and it was the most unremittingly mad at him when he speaks up, but he does it anyway. The other 5 hostile questioning I’ve ever had. I don’t mind when people ask said eggshells.] How many of you are on the left, liberal, or Dem- hard or critical questions, but I was surprised that I had misread ocrat? [Most hands go up] Can you speak freely or is it eggshells? the audience so thoroughly.