McLaughlin: ‘Prior Restraint on Speech’ Has Been Empowered on College Campuses

“Once citadels of free expression and occasional revolutionary ideas, today, many American colleges have endorsed political correctness. Terms such as micro aggression, describing an inadvertent act of offense, have entered the college lexicon, empowering an atmosphere of prior restraint on speech. And many colleges are also disinviting speakers in fear of offending certain elements of their student communities. In April 2014, for example, Brandeis University disinvited political theorist Ayaan Hirsi Ali after some Muslim groups raised protests. In October 2014, Scripps College disinvited conservative writer George Will following a column he wrote on women’s issues. Also in 2014, comedian Bill Maher was invited from University of California-Berkeley after some students raised objections about his views on religion. What’s clear is that American colleges are now increasingly reflexive in maintaining politically correct dialogue over controversy. And some say universities have lost sight of education’s ultimate purpose.”