Also, a sad day for those who value the essential American principles of tolerance for varied viewpoints and freedom of expression.
How low?
I have seen this intolerance on campus with my own eyes.
A few months before, I talked to a Jewish student who had been walking with an Israeli flag. He was thrown to the ground, the flag ripped up, and burned.
More recently, a new interdisciplinary engineering building was ransacked and defaced, with over a million dollars of damage. Arrested individuals are yet to be charged.
Viewpoint diversity and free speech are not valued or supported by many faculty. For example, the left-leaning UW chapter of the Association of University Professors (AAUP) does not allow messages that contradict their highly politicized narrative. The current moderator of the AAUP listserv regularly rejects messages from me and others for this reason. This is why he rejected my last message:
Image courtesy of Daniee Pascoal
The latest College Free Speech Rankings were just released by the highly respected, non-partisan FIRE organization: disappointingly, the University of Washington was ranked VERY low in this critical area.
How low?
Evaluating hundreds of public universities, the UW was second to LAST PLACE.
Considering all universities (public and private), the UW was in fourth to last place (see below)
The UW received an overall grade of F for free speech.
But it is even worse than that.
37% of students admitted to self-censorship, 80% say that shouting down a speaker they disagree with is fine, and 42% say that it is OK to use violence to stop someone from speaking (see below)
Just stunning and frightful.
I have seen this intolerance on campus with my own eyes.
The nation is mourning for Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist who was gunned down while speaking at a university in Utah.
Mr. Kirk, leader of Turning Point USA, was talking on campus during spring 2024, answering questions and debating with students in front of the UW Student Union Building, the HUB.
I was there. Most students were respectful, but some were aggressive and threatening. One called him a Nazi, while some antifa types, clad in black, were banging their shields and umbrellas. I was glad he had security...it was needed.
A few months before, I talked to a Jewish student who had been walking with an Israeli flag. He was thrown to the ground, the flag ripped up, and burned.
A faculty member I knew went through the Pro-Hamas encampment and was punched in the head.
For an extended period of time, the UW allowed an illegal encampment on campus, a group that regularly painted antisemitic messages across campus in the name of Global Antifada and the elimination of Israel. Some messages called for the killing of Jews.
More recently, a new interdisciplinary engineering building was ransacked and defaced, with over a million dollars of damage. Arrested individuals are yet to be charged.
Viewpoint diversity and free speech are not valued or supported by many faculty. For example, the left-leaning UW chapter of the Association of University Professors (AAUP) does not allow messages that contradict their highly politicized narrative. The current moderator of the AAUP listserv regularly rejects messages from me and others for this reason. This is why he rejected my last message:
"we have been asked to
prevent people from using our list to spread unsubstantiated
rumors and misinformation."
University websites push a highly politicized narrative on DEI, land acknowledgements, and highly skewed "values." Job announcements make it clear that only individuals with the right values need to apply. An example from the UW School of Education:
A one-page diversity statement describing your identity, positionality, experience and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and alignment to the APA's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Framework. In addition, describe your philosophy of teaching and learning, including how your work will further the College of Education’s commitment to racial equity and social justice.
No conservative who believes in equal treatment of all students would have a chance.
I could provide dozens of other examples, but you get the point.
The University of Washington does not support the essence of an educational institution: to be a place where free speech is welcome, where all viewpoints can be heard, and where no student or faculty member fears providing an unpopular viewpoint.
A sad day, indeed. But not unforeseen. The trend - the movement? - to quash dissent, to stifle contrary opinions, has been more and more forceful each passing year for more than a decade now. And not just at UW. Universities across the nation have embraced "unfree" speech as standard expected behaviour. And increasing levels of violence are becoming the norm. Very disturbing.
ReplyDeleteAs an amateur meteorologist, I've been following this blog for 17 years. This is the best entry I've ever read [even though it has nothing to do with the weather]. Thanks so much Dr. Mass for your opinions, and you will not be silenced.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that at one point I was a proud UW graduate. Simply sickening what is happening at the UW and most other universities.
ReplyDeleteYou really should rethink this blog Cliff. This guy was a monster, not a conservative moderate - unless you also feel that a conservative moderate would say gay people should be stoned to death.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/reel/1140953867916353/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
What you write is totally false. It is a lie and shown to be lie. If you don't believe me, check online. You get an F on this.
DeleteStephen King even appologized for this false statement. Will you? This is why we can't have nice things. The social platforms were meant to bring us closer, share our lives with all, but bad actors posting falsehoods and idiots that believe everything they see on it and share it have ruined it. Idiots on both sides btw. Take a minute and resesrch.
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DeleteOr, former A Student this is a product of what this article speaks about, UW supressing speech and thought, so much, you just listen to the echo chamber as truth, since you found a post to align with what you hear around campus, and campus culture tells you its true and you fall in line, your peers try to shutdown dissent on campus and you dont or you cant question it. Really sad.
DeleteThank you for your honesty and fairness. I know you were not on the same side of most issues as Charlie Kirk, but you correctly labeled him as a 'conservative moderate'. Somewhat related, Stephen King recently posted that "[Kirk] advocated stoning gays to death." In response, someone dug up Kirk's official statements on gays, which read: "...gay people should be welcomed in the conservative movement. As Christian we are called to love everyone."
ReplyDeleteSo many progressives have abandoned liberalism. I was fortunate enough to graduate from the UW way back in 2000. There was bias, sure, but there was room for debate, disagreement and true liberalism was still dominant.
Sad day indeed. And no doubt hostility to free speech just one expression of other serious problems. I just sent an email to my state reps. This ranking is embarrassing and shouldn't be tolerated by taxpayers and our legislative employees.
ReplyDelete"Columbia is lost.." :(
ReplyDeleteI am horrified that UW has ranked so poorly on these lists. It is a major embarrassment for the university and our entire region. One of America's greatest freedoms is the right to free speech and freedom of expression. These freedoms should never be taken for granted as they are only as strong as the will of the people to exercise them. These rankings show that people increasingly do not feel that they have the ability to exercise them and/or that people are increasingly unwilling to exercise them for fear of reprisal. That said, it is equally true that freedom of speech and freedom of expression do not equate to freedom from consequences resulting from said speech or expression, especially when it comes to speech that promotes violence and expressions of violence, such as the vandalism pointed out in this post. This is a very difficult subject that America must address if we as a nation are to move beyond the current situation of increasing censorship and increasing violence.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cliff. I only knew Charlie Kirk through some occasional YT videos. He was a remarkable presence on campus--a leader for free, civil speech. In my telling, many of todays' students are like the hedgehogs that know One Big Thing. Foxes like Charlie (RIP) must appear as a threat to them and to all they know.
ReplyDeleteI must say, I am confused about your position though, Cliff. I thought DEI was all about fairness. I agree that hires should be made on qualification and not about race, gender, etc., and I agree that society has perhaps gotten too preoccupied with some of the race and sexual orientation stuff, but to some degree it stems from past unfairness and transgressions.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, DEI is not about fairness. It is about replacing historical discrimination with another type. Very wrong. Very ineffective.
DeleteWake up. DEI is about manipulating and taking advantage of a group people by shaming them for things they never did. Then, steal things while they aren't looking. Quite the sophisticated crime, but actually the technique is old as the hills.
DeleteGreat post. Thank you for standing up for the truth. Remember Charlie Kirk!
ReplyDeleteJust wondering if you could elaborate a little on what is the University’s “highly politicized narrative on DEI, land acknowledgements, and its skewed "values.". I agree land acknowledgement can be a bit tedious, but having dealt with tribes I understand why the acknowledgements would have value for them.
ReplyDeleteI talked to a leader in the native American community, who told me how irritated he was with the land acknowledgment statements.....just empty virtual signaling. When they give back the land...then it would mean something.
DeleteConsider this.. can you imagine what the "native American" elders would say if they knew the people who took over their land with their ambition and modern power were cowering in the corner with self doubt and self-imposed guilt? I'll bet they would be ashamed of us - the people who took over turned out to be a bunch of whining ninnies. Disgraceful.
DeleteNatives Americans hold a diverse look at current events too. Some more conservative some more liberal. One thing they all do agree on is the land was stolen, but rightly as cliff says some dont care about the empty gesture. If Dems were serious, maybe they would compansate the tribe for which lands they use to hold the conventions. Instead they just get lip service to take their money through donations. Kinda sad really, since some tribes are the poorest class of people and suffer the wose economic strife.
DeleteWhat tribal members and those in tribal governments have told us is, in short, we don’t want money. Rather, invite us to talk to you, listen, understand our story and if you are so inclined, help us protect our natural resources and restore treaty fisheries, hunting and gathering that our peoples depend on.
DeleteCliff, we need to have Congressional hearings where you appear as a witness and tell this story to the whole nation. Shine sunlight on it.
ReplyDeleteThe remedy is as clear to me as it is severe. Through legislation, higher ed institutions that engage in this kind of blatant viewpoint discrimination need to be cut off from the federal student aid system until they rectify the problem. If you want to run a university like this, good luck because we won't be disbursing Pell grants, Perkins loans, Stafford loans, PLUS loans....
Hit them where it hurts most.
Disgusting. I'm beyond glad that my nephew didn't go to this travesty of a school.
ReplyDelete