The University of Chicago’s Newspaper Gives Up on Open Debate

The University of Chicago is famous for its commitment to free speech and open debate: The law school mailed me a 100-page book affirming it before I started there last fall. Last week, however, the editors at our school newspaper comically failed to uphold that commitment. What’s worse, their actions fit a worrying trend in which those who hold the positions that most demand impartiality are beginning to openly disregard that responsibility in pursuit of “equality.”

In February, UChicago’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine demanded that students boycott classes taught by Israeli visiting faculty. The Chicago Maroon, our student newspaper, published dueling op-eds criticizing and defending the club’s demand.