Great News! Middlebury College Experiences Free Speech Rebellion

Last week, I wrote about Polish Catholic philosopher Ryszard Legutko being ceremoniously un-invited from Middlebury College by Provost Jeff Cason and Dean of Students Baishakhi Taylor.  Liberal students and professors didn’t want the professor of philosophy at Jagiellonian University and a member of the European Parliament to come, because he didn’t line up precisely with their political views.   So, the college canceled his speaking event just hours before it was to occur.

His lecture was going to be on – ahem – totalitarianism:

Legutko was scheduled to speak Wednesday at the Vermont college’s Alexander Hamilton Forum, delivering a lecture entitled “The Demon in Democracy: Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies.” A member of the anti-Communist Polish resistance during the Cold War, Legutko warns that western democracy is also susceptible to creep towards totalitarianism.

The activists were upset because of “Legutko’s pointed critiques of multiculturalism, feminism, and homosexuality, calling them “homophobic, racist, xenophobic, [and] misogynistic.” 

Middlebury’s email which explained the cancellation cited “potential security and safety risks for both the lecture and the event students had planned in response.” 

What happened next was remarkable. One student proposed sneaking Mr. Legutko on campus and proceeding with his lecture in a political science class. Professor Matthew Dickinson said he’d allow it if every student in his class approved the idea on a secret ballot. All nine students voted yes. Word got out on social media, and other students trickled in. Mr. Dickinson estimates about 45 students attended. 

“I have never been more proud in my 30 years of teaching than to watch these students engage with the speaker, push back on him, engage with him. It was a marvelous example of how free speech facilitates learning,” Mr. Dickinson said.

“During the days of communist totalitarianism, scholars from the West traveled to Eastern Bloc nations to give underground lectures and seminars,” said Keegan Callanan, who directs the Alexander Hamilton Forum and invited the Polish politician. “On Wednesday, Mr. Legutko returned the favor.”

What a great story!  Good for the students who stood up for freedom, regardless of whether they agreed with Legutko. 

May the students and faculty rise up against the left’s desire to silence them and limit their exposure to ideas.

That’s what free speech is, that’s what America is about.  

Hat Tip: Wall Street Journal