There are PLENTY of platforms and occasions to hear “unvetted” speakers all over the country. You can hear Neo-Nazi’s, Covid-deniers, KKK members, and a whole host of domestic terrorists encouraging people to stockpile ammo because “they” are coming for you. Nobody is prevented from attending a rally or other gathering where you can hear every single point of view represented, no matter how violent or hateful.
Just not on most college campuses. And I’d say that’s what’s RIGHT with the US higher Ed system right now. You can find these meetings on a wide range of websites, you can exercise your right to free expression, you can find a ton of organizations and venues which are happy to host these speakers. So THEIR rights aren’t being infringed upon in any way. But I don’t think it’s problematic that a university chooses not to host, pay for security, etc.
It’s not like hateful speech has dried up in America because Wesleyan and Oberlin won’t let the speakers use their auditoriums… jeez. It is quite literally EVERYWHERE right now.
I’m actually curious if you draw any line at all in terms of speaker or content of speech. Should college campuses be forced to give a platform to a KKK Grand Dragon in full regalia? What about NAMBLA?
The hyperbole on this thread is amazing and perfectly illustrates why civil discourse and discussion of opposing viewpoints has been and continues to be greatly diminished on US campuses. I have so much more I’d like to say but the TOS don’t permit it.
“It’s interesting to see many posters above talk about the desire for conservative students to go ahead and attend liberal colleges so that they can be sure to be exposed to opposing views. It’s interesting because I doubt all of them would be so much advocating for liberal students to attend conservative schools to ensure they get both sides of the story.”
Absolutely not, I did not.miss your post. That’s why I said many posters, and not all posters. I appreciated your post and several others.
The fact is if you go back through this thread there are many other posters that kept saying that a conservative student should go ahead and attend a liberal leaning college because it was very good for them to be exposed to the other point of view even though that’s not what the student wants. Interestingly if a student were looking for a liberal college posters would probably not be on here saying they shouldn’t look at just liberal colleges as they need to be exposed to dissenting views. Just my observation.
I don’t see it that way at all. College is about higher education, not a free speech to anyone with an idea platform. The internet does the latter. I just finished reading a BBC story on the net about a yoga leader in India spreading his disdain for Covid/doctors, etc in his country. Do we seriously want a place representing higher education giving him a platform? I don’t. All colleges get to draw the line with what is acceptable to them.
Honestly? There’s a reason there aren’t many super conservative colleges (not talking finance/business) and it’s not due to a conspiracy keeping them out. When many people look at data or meet others outside their growing up circle they start to realize things and shift thoughts accordingly.
I only came to the thread because there was a crowd forming…
The sad thing about this discussion is that A) the participants very likely skew to above-average intelligence and achievement, and B) it’s impossible to find a subtle middle-ground.
There is nothing wrong with someone wanting to find a college where their values are more aligned with those on campus than they might be elsewhere. Fit is mentioned thousands of times/day on this site…yet when it relates to political ideology instead of Greek or athletic or equality sentiments on campus…it’s a time to be uncomfortable and challenged?
This thread is a truly sad way to start the day. Time to move on…nothing useful to see here.
That’s because Blossom refers to actual neonazi speakers- such as Richard Spencer- or people well-known in supremacist circles - such as the young man who defended pedophilia and women’s harassment- that were invited to college campuses by some student groups.
In some cases the speakers weren’t even disinvited but the college merely requested the student group shoulder the costs of security during the event and of clean up in the aftermath (as is generally requested for most actual liberal and actual conservative speakers but they don’t incur high costs because they dont attract and lead to violence.)
These speakers are free to hold rallies and be active on social media, etc.
Advocating that some people shouldn’t exist and/or justifying violence against them isn’t about ideas.
In addition, these people are not conservative but may have taken that name as a cover.
Colleges have a duty to protect their students and community and in the past 3 years we’ve known that such speakers both atttract violence and lead others to violence.
As a result, if someone is looking for a college where white supremacists, neonazi, etc., are invited to speak, you won’t find any.
If someone is looking for a college where a broad variety of liberal and conservative speakers are invited, many colleges fit the bill, already listed above: Clemson, TAMU, Tulane, Pepperdine, we could add Columbia, St Olaf, Notre Dame, etc.
Thanks…I am far from extreme. I have friends from all backgrounds and I believe in live and let live. I don’t believe in shutting people down, cancelling and ridiculing based on “group think” . I feel we have lost our way to a point where we can’t have open and civil discussions and listen to each-other.
Everything is so divisive…religion, politics, race, even Hollywood, education, tech and entertainment. It’s so bad that a pandemic became political and divided a country instead of uniting us.
This is the third warning. I have had to edit and delete various posts and the conversation has devolved into rancor. Calling people of one party or other members of the KKK, or Nazis, etc… is completely unacceptable.
The topic of this thread is to discuss conservative colleges, not to talk about freedom of speech on campus or Richard Spencer or Farrakhan. The first post makes it clear that the thread is about conservative colleges. The thread may be reopened, but I am closing it for review for now, at least temporarily.