Universities' Responses to Outside Speakers' Harmful Speech

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Higher Education, Law, and Global Perspectives

Abstract

When outside speakers engage in harmful speech on college campuses or are anticipated to do so, universities respond in a variety of ways. Using speech act theory, we contend that university responses to messages of systemic discrimination can be placed on a continuum which ranges from silence, to equivocation, to robust rejection. While silent, limited, and equivocal responses perpetuate injustice, robust responses can assist in undoing the harm the speech seeks to cause and thus help to create campuses in which free speech and equity and inclusion are mutually reinforcing. Our analysis includes case studies of three events which occurred on campuses between 2016 and mid-2019.

Authors

• Kristine Bowman, Michigan State University

• Katharine Gelber, University of Queensland