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Students, faculty, alumni and parents voice opinions on free speech at U.Va. at community listening
News
Students, faculty, alumni and parents voice opinions on free speech at U.Va. at community listening session
The Committee on Free Expression and Inquiry is taking community members’ opinions into account when drafting a University statement regarding free speech
By Stratton Marsh
May 4, 2021
The Committee on Free Expression and Inquiry held a listening session Monday from noon to 1:30 p.m for community members to voice their opinions on free expression at the University. More than 20 attendees — including students, professors, alumni and parents — spoke during the listening session, which was conducted via conference call. Committee members listened in on the call but did not respond to attendees questions or concerns, and the conversation was recorded so any Committee members not in attendance could listen at a later time.
{snip}
Around eight professors spoke during the session, with several faculty members voicing concerns that the University administration no longer tolerates criticism of University policies.
{snip}
Other faculty members expressed concerns that students were not able to express differing viewpoints in the classroom without feeling ostracized by their peers or feeling that their professor would not respond well to differing viewpoints.
Economics Prof. Kenneth Elzinga expressed that the University should craft a statement that echoes that of the University of Chicago. Elzinga said that the statement should be created so to be accessible to students, so that students know that their speech is protected.
“I think that if we do have a statement that really does portray the University of Virginia as being a place that wants to have a marketplace of ideas, in the Jeffersonian tradition ... it's really important that it not just be a statement, that it be marketed in some way to have a brand identification,” Elzinga said. “Not just for faculty to understand it, and not just administrators to understand it, but for students to understand.”
The University has previously been encouraged by some community members to adopt free speech principles similar to those crafted by the University of Chicago. The Chicago statement — first released in July 2014 — affirms that the university could not silence any type of speech except if it creates a genuine threat, arguing that it is not the university’s place to shield individuals from ideas and opinions that some may find disagreeable. Instead of silencing speech, the statement encourages the community to reject wrong ideas through discussion and discourse.
{snip}
Students, faculty, alumni and parents voice opinions on free speech at U.Va. at community listening session
The Committee on Free Expression and Inquiry is taking community members’ opinions into account when drafting a University statement regarding free speech
By Stratton Marsh
May 4, 2021
The Committee on Free Expression and Inquiry held a listening session Monday from noon to 1:30 p.m for community members to voice their opinions on free expression at the University. More than 20 attendees — including students, professors, alumni and parents — spoke during the listening session, which was conducted via conference call. Committee members listened in on the call but did not respond to attendees questions or concerns, and the conversation was recorded so any Committee members not in attendance could listen at a later time.
{snip}
Around eight professors spoke during the session, with several faculty members voicing concerns that the University administration no longer tolerates criticism of University policies.
{snip}
Other faculty members expressed concerns that students were not able to express differing viewpoints in the classroom without feeling ostracized by their peers or feeling that their professor would not respond well to differing viewpoints.
Economics Prof. Kenneth Elzinga expressed that the University should craft a statement that echoes that of the University of Chicago. Elzinga said that the statement should be created so to be accessible to students, so that students know that their speech is protected.
“I think that if we do have a statement that really does portray the University of Virginia as being a place that wants to have a marketplace of ideas, in the Jeffersonian tradition ... it's really important that it not just be a statement, that it be marketed in some way to have a brand identification,” Elzinga said. “Not just for faculty to understand it, and not just administrators to understand it, but for students to understand.”
The University has previously been encouraged by some community members to adopt free speech principles similar to those crafted by the University of Chicago. The Chicago statement — first released in July 2014 — affirms that the university could not silence any type of speech except if it creates a genuine threat, arguing that it is not the university’s place to shield individuals from ideas and opinions that some may find disagreeable. Instead of silencing speech, the statement encourages the community to reject wrong ideas through discussion and discourse.
{snip}