Harvard writer: Free speech threatens liberalism and must be destroyed

[petegz28]

If this Harvard University student got her way, free speech on campus would be abolished and professors with dissenting views fired, because radical leftism is the only permissible political philosophy and the First Amendment is a barrier preventing modern colleges from fulfilling their proper role as indoctrination camps.

Her name is Sandra Korn. She is a senior at Harvard and columnist for the Harvard Crimson.

In a recent column, Korn unambiguously insisted that the university should stop guaranteeing professors and students the right to hold controversial views and pursue research that challenges liberalism.

“If our university community opposes racism, sexism, and heterosexism, why should we put up with research that counters our goals?” asked Korn in her column.

The column’s subtitle was even more direct: “Let’s give up on academic freedom in favor of justice.”

Korn cited several instances of perspectives that clashed with her own being banned from campus as triumphant examples of the way Harvard should be run. The firing of Subramanian Swamy, a Harvard summer school instructor who was dismissed for his anti-Islamic views, was one such triumph.

She also invoked the academic boycott of Israel — something condemned by Harvard President Drew Faust and numerous other university presidents — as an example of the kind of tactics leftists should defend and use in order to get their way on campus.

Korn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Her sharp rejection of intellectual freedom — a value enshrined by U.S. law and central to the success of American institutions of higher learning — is common among left-wing activists at elite colleges. Last week, Erin Ching, a sophomore at Swarthmore College, took a similar view when she criticized her university for committing the unforgivable crime of allowing a conservative — Christian thinker Robert George — to speak on campus.

“What really bothered me is, the whole idea is that at a liberal arts college, we need to be hearing a diversity of opinion,” she said, according to the Daily Gazette. “I don’t think we should be tolerating [George’s] conservative views because that dominant culture embeds these deep inequalities in our society.”

George, a Swarthmore alumnus, came to campus to debate Cornell West.

Pro-life students at the University of Alabama were victims of a similar belief that conservative views should not be publicly espoused on campus. (RELATED: U. of Alabama censors pro-life students for ‘offensive’ poster)


And at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, merely emailing an inoffensive .gif of President Barack Obama kicking a door triggers an investigation. The perpetrator was forced to apologize for committing a racial insensitivity. (RELATED: Student forced to apologize for emailing pic of Obama kicking a door, because RACISM)


Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/23/ha...#ixzz2uOjks5wn

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by blaise

Yes, the internet and world is literally on fire with this story today.

My mistake.

Such a nice recovery.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

Such a nice recovery.

I don't know what I need to recover from. You're the one claiming that there's widespread outrage going on.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by blaise

I don't know what I need to recover from. You're the one claiming that there's widespread outrage going on.

Yeah okay. I guess I didn't read that you claimed I was commenting on those in this thread specifically. I just got confused by this that you said, "Tons of outrage in this thread."

[CoMoChief]

You're really not allowed to speak or write anything for Harvard anymore unless you're a huge communist liberal.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

You're really not allowed to speak or write anything for Harvard anymore unless you're a huge communist liberal.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

Yeah okay. I guess I didn't read that you claimed I was commenting on those in this thread specifically. I just got confused by this that you said, "Tons of outrage in this thread."

Ok. So, basically very little outrage here, or externally.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

You're really not allowed to speak or write anything for Harvard anymore unless you're a huge communist liberal.

Right. But only the type of communist liberal who complains about a liberal policy at the institution.

[lawrenceRaider]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

So......how does this square with the folks who wanted the KU professor fired for tweeting anti-gun stuff?

Wishing death on a group of people is entirely different, and for you to pretend otherwise is disingenuous at best, stupid at worst.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

Wishing death on a group of people is entirely different, and for you to pretend otherwise is disingenuous at best, stupid at worst.

Don't waste your time with that idiot.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

So......how does this square with the folks who wanted the KU professor fired for tweeting anti-gun stuff?

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

The OP is really quite remarkable. Usually the right wants these professors held accountable for their comments and to not be protected by tenure, and in the case of public schools, free speech. Here, a student is saying, "Let's hold them accountable" and now the right is against it. The article calls it "rejection of intellectual freedom."

You folks are truly amazing.

Well, one person in this thread actually tried to address what I said. That person was misinformed, but I do appreciate the effort.

Since when does the right not want professors held accountable for what they say? The sentiment being expressed in this thread is a 180-degree turn from what the right has always complained about--faculty says stupid shit and the school administration can't do anything.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I call upon the the entirety of this great nation, WHO will stand up for this poor misguided women? . . .


No one?

No one at all?


Oh, thanks Cosmo.

You're a pretentious drama queen, but I don't think you're stupid. Why are you acting like it?
Grow a spine and tell your fans how hypocritical is to suddenly be against something they have whined about wanting forever.

[blaise]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

Well, one person in this thread actually tried to address what I said. That person was misinformed, but I do appreciate the effort.

Since when does the right not want professors held accountable for what they say? The sentiment being expressed in this thread is a 180-degree turn from what the right has always complained about--faculty says stupid shit and the school administration can't do anything.

Who do you expect a response from? Which poster in particular has given different responses in the two situations?

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

Well, one person in this thread actually tried to address what I said. That person was misinformed, but I do appreciate the effort.

Since when does the right not want professors held accountable for what they say? The sentiment being expressed in this thread is a 180-degree turn from what the right has always complained about--faculty says stupid shit and the school administration can't do anything.

You haven't addressed the topic which is about campus liberals and their hatred of diversity and tolerance. That is why nobody is responding to your tangents. If and when you address the article I bet you will start getting feedback in your attempted misdirections

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

You haven't addressed the topic which is about campus liberals and their hatred of diversity and tolerance. That is why nobody is responding to your tangents. If and when you address the article I bet you will start getting feedback in your attempted misdirections

The actual campus liberals in charge are the ones who favor all the diversity and research being done. The article is about a feminist liberal complaining about the liberal policies at the private institution. What is so important and damaging about this?

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

The actual campus liberals in charge are the ones who favor all the diversity and research being done. The article is about a feminist liberal complaining about the liberal policies at the private institution. What is so important and damaging about this?

He's obviously reading the Daily Caller interpretation of the column and not the actual column. I don't really agree with her, but it basically a principle that the right has argued in favor of for years.

I'd also point out another pathetic right-wing trait--calling out what some obscure person as if it is of national importance. This was a college student who wrote an editorial for the school paper. Good job taking on the big and powerful, Daily Caller.