Dartmouth was where professor Mark Brey was teaching when he launched a book justifying Antifa violence to suppress speech with which Liberals disagree (with the support of 100 Dartmouth colleagues). Another professor supported the idea of Doxxing Catholic teenagers. And hating on Thanksgiving is a tradition.
Related: Equity, Equality, Social Justice, and Speech Policing at Dartmouth College
Therefore, it is no surprise that an extensive study of free speech involving 20,000 students on 55 College campuses placed Dartmouth near the bottom.
I’m not sure how you can insist on being a premier learning institution when free speech is dangerously close to being impossible.
Two-thirds of Dartmouth students do not feel comfortable openly expressing their opinion. And barely half feel like it is possible to have a difficult conversation, though I’m a bit suspicious about that one. By difficult discussion, are we talking about letting Conservatives speak on campus or having out the differences between the Lesbian Feminists and the issue of Transowmen in their private spaces or on their sports teams?
- 31% of students say it is never acceptable to shout down a speaker on campus.
- 50% of students are confident that the administration will defend the speaker’s rights in a free speech controversy.
- 79% of students say it is never acceptable to use violent protest to stop a speech on campus.
- Students are most uncomfortable expressing an unpopular opinion on a social media account tied to one’s name.
- Race is the topic most frequently identified by students as difficult to have an open and honest conversation about on campus.
These are interesting numbers. Thirty-one percent oppose shouting someone down but 21% can imagine a circumstance where violence is a suitable means to silence other people’s speech. That’s slightly above the 55 school average, which is just under 20%.
Congratulations, New Hampshire. Dartmouth pulled the average up; we’re so proud.
I suppose the next question is, what, if anything, can we do about it? Not much if people keep sending their kids there to be indoctrinated by a culture of intolerance. Dartmouth will cash the checks and keep on their merry way to tyranny.
