Category Archives: Freedom of speech and expression

UVa students push back against learning about other viewpoints.

by Shaun Kenney

WARNING! This is a long one . . . so pour your favorite scotch or cup of coffee and be prepared to consider alternate viewpoints that may offend. As the libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick remarks, “My thoughts do not aim for your assent, just place them alongside your own for awhile.”

One of the things I deeply appreciated about my time at the University of Virginia was its treatment of the humanities writ large. In short, everyone — no matter what their intelligence or depth — should expose themselves to something more than just their profession. “What good is it to earn your first million at the age of 30,” opined one professor, “only to find out you can’t have a conversation because you are a boring person!”

I had the privilege of encountering not just one but two generations of Virginia students. The first was among my peers during the late 1990s; the second when I darkened the towers to pursue my own academic career, which remains an ongoing project to be sure. Continue reading →

Bert Ellis, UVa graduate, president of The Jefferson Council, and newly appointed to the University of Virginia Board of Trustees, is highlighted in The Washington Post article on the alumni-led free speech movement.

by James A. Bacon

Every once in a while The Washington Post reminds us of the kind of newspaper that it used to be — capable of producing balanced journalism. Education reporter Susan Svrluga has published an article describing the rise of what I (not she) calls the alumni rebellion. She cites the concerns of Virginia-based organizations — the Jefferson Council (whose board I serve on), the Spirit of VMI, and the General’s Redoubt — as well as allied groups in Princeton, MIT and other nationally known universities about the erosion of free speech on college campuses.

Svrluga doesn’t squeeze our statements into a left-wing narrative, she doesn’t mischaracterize our concerns, and she quotes us fairly. accurately and in context. To be sure, she gives space to those who minimize our allegations about the state of higher-ed today — as it is her obligation to do. It’s important for readers to know that not everyone agrees with us.

The contrast with Ian Shapira, The Washington Post author of repeated hit jobs on the Virginia Military Institute, is dramatic. Shapira epitomizes the new school of journalism. He started with his narrative of VMI as a systemically racist institution, uncritically repeated information that confirmed his belief and ignored or sought to discredit information that did not. He did go through the motions of producing pro forma statements for the “other side of the story,” but he never let them interrupt his pre-determined narrative.

So, kudos to Svrluga for letting us tell our story.

While I am grateful for Svrluga highlighting the new alumni-led free-speech movement, I do believed that she missed a critical angle. By way of preface, I need to quote UVa spokesman Brian Coy and renowned political scientist Larry Sabato. Continue reading →

You know The Jefferson Council and its allies are having an impact at the University of Virginia when you read items like this in “UVA This Month”:

Free speech flourished on Grounds in April. Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke at Old Cabell Hall. UVA President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom wrote eloquently about cancel culture. And a panel including students and professors explored the topic in a candid discussion on the West Range.

There’s no mention in this blurb of The Jefferson Council or the Young America’s Foundation, which sponsored the speech, much less the Young Americans for Freedom, the conservative student group that organized the event. Even the in-house news article to which “UVA This Month” linked neglected to credit those who invited Pence and paid the speakers fee.

That’s OK. The Jefferson Council can take satisfaction in knowing that we are helping change the terms of debate. Free speech was not a preoccupation of the Ryan administration a year ago. We’re delighted that it is now — at least in high-profile events like former vice presidents coming to visit.

Now… if we can just get the administration to address compelled speech. We’ll have more on that shortly.

by Walter Smith

The Washington Post recently featured an opinion piece, “Why the University of Virginia is becoming a battleground for speech,” which portrayed members of The Jefferson Council as a group of old white guys desiring to preserve their hegemony of white privilege while skirting around the actual facts of the free-speech debate. In this rebuttal, I aim to fill in the missing facts and context.
Let me say by way of preface, that we appreciate the “hit piece” from The Washington Post. If you are drawing fire, you must be over the target. This opinion piece affirms that our efforts are being noticed.

The author, Peter Galuszka, set the scene for his diatribe by recounting the recent speech by former Vice President Mike Pence: “On April 12, hundreds of well-scrubbed, mostly White young people thunderously applauded former vice president Mike Pence as he espoused ‘free speech’ at the University of Virginia.”

That paragraph and the following two were largely true. Pence did say, “I am a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican in that order.” He did say he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior (which is an orthodox statement among people who are evangelical Christians). He did criticize The Cavalier Daily student newspaper for its editorial which wished to deny him the right to speak at the 851-seat Old Cabell Hall auditorium. Young Americans for Freedom at UVA did organize the event, which is part of a national speaking tour for Mike Pence. Perhaps it is accurate to have said the purpose was to push a possible presidential bid in 2024. Continue reading →

by James A. Bacon

Former Vice President Mike Pence came to the University of Virginia last night, attended two receptions, and delivered his speech, billed as “How to Save America from the Woke Left,” without a hitch.

The Pence event created a national stir when the editorial board of The Cavalier Daily student newspaper said that Pence should not be allowed to speak because his conservative views would prove offensive and hurtful to many. The editorial generated a tidal wave of response in support of Pence’s right to give the speech and students’ right to hear it. Seventeen faculty members of diverse political views signed a letter in defense of the speech. President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom published an op-ed in a higher-ed trade journal defending free speech.

Political science professor Larry Sabato, perhaps UVa’s best known faculty member, has been highly critical of President Donald Trump, but he hosted a reception for Trump’s vice president in a pavilion on the Lawn before the speech. The veep attended a second reception across the Lawn, hosted by the Young America’s Foundation, which, in partnership with The Jefferson Council, underwrote the cost of the event.

It was a pleasant spring evening, and throngs of students were hanging out on the Lawn, but there was no unpleasantness to be seen. The University had created an area where protesters could gather, which a modest number did, but they were peaceful and barely noticed by the hundreds of visitors as they lined up security checks outside Old Cabell Hall. Continue reading →