Do Universities Have the Courage to Solve Their Free-Speech Problem?

Finding a university that voices support for free speech is easy. You would be hard pressed to find one that does not. Finding a university that puts such support into practice today is more difficult, if not impossible. And while I’ve known this for some time, I experienced it firsthand recently at Yale Law School.

Yale’s policy on free expression states that it is “committed to fostering an environment that values the free expression of ideas.” According to the policy, “the exercise of free expression on campus is subject to three general conditions: 1) access to a university event or facility may not be blocked; 2) a university event, activity, or its regular or essential operations may not be disrupted; and 3) safety may not be compromised.”