Controversial Speakers on Campus: Liberties, Limitations, and Common-Sense Guidelines

St. Thomas Law Review, Vol. 12, p. 39, 1999

56 Pages Posted: 1 Jul 2008 Last revised: 6 Jul 2008

See all articles by Kenneth Lasson

Kenneth Lasson

University of Baltimore - School of Law

Date Written: 1999

Abstract

"Veritas vos liberabit," chanted the scholastics of yesteryear. The "truth will set you free," echo their latter-day counterparts in the academy, intoning the mantra reverentially but with increasingly more hope than confidence, more faith than conviction.... The real world of the academy, of course, is not quite that wonderful, nor nearly as bad as many would suggest. The ironies become palpable, however, when those self-same institutions, which almost universally view themselves as bastions of free speech, instead stifle debate that is perceived as politically incorrect or otherwise embarrassing. Academic administrators naturally shy away from conflict and contention. They shun controversy. They abhor negative publicity of any kind, quelling it as heavy-handedly as conservative corporations whose primary concern is to ensure a profitable bottom line. Thus universities have become intuitively reluctant to sponsor ideas that clash too loudly. The research and scholarship they most entusiastically support is that which curries favorable coverage from the media and attracts large amounts of dollars from alumni.

Keywords: universities, controversy, speakers, guidelines

JEL Classification: I20

Suggested Citation

Lasson, Kenneth, Controversial Speakers on Campus: Liberties, Limitations, and Common-Sense Guidelines (1999). St. Thomas Law Review, Vol. 12, p. 39, 1999, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1153575

Kenneth Lasson (Contact Author)

University of Baltimore - School of Law ( email )

1420 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
United States

HOME PAGE: http://law.ubalt.edu/template.cfm?page=590

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