43.023 - Division J Vice-Presidential Panel. We Cannot Be "Post-Truth": Handling Public Speech Controversies on Campus

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

This special Vice Presidential session features a diverse panel of higher education leaders discussing a pressing political problem for colleges and universities: How should campus leaders negotiate the tensions between providing a public forum for controversial ideas and their institutional missions to create knowledge and promote integrity? Recent campus protests have exposed deep political polarization, but have also highlighted fundamental differences in what views different people think are reasonable within a democratic society. We will ground the discussion in several real instances of campuses dealing with free speech controversies, for example, Richard Spencer at the University of Florida; and Milo Yiannopolous at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Sub Unit

• Division J - Postsecondary Education

Chair

• Michele S. Moses, University of Colorado - Boulder

Panelists

• Sigal Raday Ben-Porath, University of Pennsylvania

• Taffye Benson Clayton, Auburn University

• William G. Tierney, University of Southern California

• Jeffrey C. Sun, University of Louisville