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Jen Rubin: Words & Phrases We Could do Without
Jen Rubin - Words & Phrases We Could do Without
“Academic Freedom,” under this administration, becomes an anachronism
Jennifer Rubin
Mar 25, 2025
Twenty years ago, the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, propounded on the concept of “academic freedom.” He explained, “Academic freedom goes to the heart of the university, to the rights and responsibilities of faculty and students, to the nature of teaching and scholarship.” He spoke to the necessity of the “atmosphere which is most conducive to speculation, experiment and creation”:
Universities decide these things.
“Not outside actors. Not politicians, not pressure groups, not the media.”
Well, so much for that. On Friday, the Columbia University administration surrendered to the bullying of the Trump regime, giving a reactionary, racist, and authoritarian junta unprecedented control over its university.
Let’s be clear. One can find Columbia’s approach to the protests, violence, and hate speech that ran rampant on college campuses following Oct. 7 wholly insufficient, even morally contemptible. I certainly did. However, as with all aspects of free speech, the question is who gets to decide—what gets said, what gets taught, and what sort of academic environment and scholarship gets established. It is easy to defend agreeable speech. Defending speech you find objectionable is where the rubber hits the road. (You need not have been a communist to denounce McCarthy-era loyalty oaths.)
Well, so much for that. On Friday, the Columbia University administration surrendered to the bullying of the Trump regime, giving a reactionary, racist, and authoritarian junta unprecedented control over its university.
/snip
“Academic Freedom,” under this administration, becomes an anachronism
Jennifer Rubin
Mar 25, 2025
Twenty years ago, the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, propounded on the concept of “academic freedom.” He explained, “Academic freedom goes to the heart of the university, to the rights and responsibilities of faculty and students, to the nature of teaching and scholarship.” He spoke to the necessity of the “atmosphere which is most conducive to speculation, experiment and creation”:
“It is an atmosphere in which there prevail ‘the four essential freedoms’ of a university—to determine for itself on academic grounds who may teach, what may be taught, how it shall be taught, and who may be admitted to study.”
Universities decide these things.
“Not outside actors. Not politicians, not pressure groups, not the media.”
Well, so much for that. On Friday, the Columbia University administration surrendered to the bullying of the Trump regime, giving a reactionary, racist, and authoritarian junta unprecedented control over its university.
Let’s be clear. One can find Columbia’s approach to the protests, violence, and hate speech that ran rampant on college campuses following Oct. 7 wholly insufficient, even morally contemptible. I certainly did. However, as with all aspects of free speech, the question is who gets to decide—what gets said, what gets taught, and what sort of academic environment and scholarship gets established. It is easy to defend agreeable speech. Defending speech you find objectionable is where the rubber hits the road. (You need not have been a communist to denounce McCarthy-era loyalty oaths.)
Well, so much for that. On Friday, the Columbia University administration surrendered to the bullying of the Trump regime, giving a reactionary, racist, and authoritarian junta unprecedented control over its university.
/snip