Skidmore Scope Magazine Annual Edition for 2017

30 SCOPE ANNUAL 2017 the culture changed with respect to speech or press rights?​ Yes. One example is the Trump crowd’s demonization of the press (which is simply demonization of truth and information). Another example is the portion of the public that considers social pressure in the direction of political correctness to be censorship. — deborah jacobs Campus discourse Campuses are once again battlegrounds over freedom of speech, which I think is good news. If the next generation of leaders and active citizens learn to engage in creative conflicts in the micro- cosm of a college campus, there’s a good chance the train- ing will pay off when they reach the workforce, where freedom of speech is often conspicuously absent thanks to individual and corporate profit motives. But campuses have to be careful not to overpolice speech with “trigger warnings,” public declarations on microaggressions, and the self-censorship that curtails young professors as they seek to secure their place in the academic ranks. Obvi- ously, hate speech and anything that endangers anyone physically is always out of line. — lantigua-williams Most of us understand that our defense of free speech need not (and should not) extend to speech that is flagrantly abusive or deliberately intimidating—that is, intended to silence others and make genuine debate impossible. When free speech is cast in absolutist terms, as a defense of all speech no matter the circumstances or consequences, then we are dealing with an attempt to dismiss and reduce to absurdity an issue that “COLLEGES ARE THE SAFEST INTELLECTUAL PLACES ON THE PLANET. BUT THE RISKS INVOLVED IN TALKING ABOUT POLITICS, RACE, CLASS, OR RELIGION CAN DISCOUR- AGE SPEAKING FREELY.”