Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Majoring in political incorrectness at the University of Chicago

The University of Chicago fired a shot against over-the-top "political correctness" this week. And they're right -- but what can colleges do to reduce hate speech?

For a school that doesn't even have a football team, the University of Chicago sure makes a lot of news these days, much of it with a political bent. This spring, Sen. Bernie Sanders emerged as arguably the school's most famous alumnus, giving reporters a chance to dredge up the university's racial squabbles of the early 1960s.  The University of Chicago is also working to bring the Barack Obama Presidential Library to its South Side neighborhood. Sounds like a bunch of bleeding-heart lefties, huh?

Maybe not.

University of Chicago class of 2020, get ready for a college experience filled with debate, discussion — and possibly discomfort.

As colleges across the country wrestle with balancing academic freedom and open discourse with student health and safety, University of Chicago Dean of Students John Ellison told incoming freshmen in a letter what they should expect on campus.

"Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called 'trigger warnings,' we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual 'safe spaces' where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own," the letter said.

The letter was inspired by a 2015 university committee report:

"It is not the proper role of the University to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive," the report states. "Although the University greatly values civility, and although all members of the University community share in the responsibility for maintaining a climate of mutual respect, concerns about civility and mutual respect can never be used as a justification for closing off discussion of ideas, however offensive or disagreeable those ideas may be to some members of our community."

OK, I know what you're thinking, that I'm outraged...blah blah blah. But you're only thinking that because you didn't read my piece from last November about the 1st Amendment abuses at the University of Missouri, stating that college campuses should not be "safe spaces" but "intellectually dangerous." No, I've long voiced concern that the pendulum of "political correctness" has swung too far. I think this statement from the University of Chicago is a good first step toward changing the conversation.

Is there a "but" coming? Of course there is.

If political correctness is intended to prevent hate speech, it's not working. Toxic bullying and harassment -- much of it racist, or misogynist, or homophobic, and so on and so on -- is worse right now than any time in my adult lifetime. Look at the way women like Leslie Jones or Gabby Douglas are treated -- and that's just in the last week or so! Thank social media -- the ultimate "safe space," since an arrogant bully can't get punched in the nose in cyberspace.  (And no, the current tone of our politics is not helping.)

Campus administrators face a difficult dilemma. They need to do what the University of Chicago is doing here, and not ban difficult conversations. At the same time, they need to teach America's youth that hate speech is slowly eating away at the nation's moral fabric. College students have to learn the awesome power of free speech in America, and yet they have to learn not to abuse that freedom. The University of Chicago -- which has produced more Nobel-winning economists than any other school --should have been smart enough to address the other side of the equation.