The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

Volokh Conspiracy

The university student anti-free-speech movement, this time at Duke

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The demands of some students at Duke University include (thanks to the Duke Chronicle for posting them):

Members of the university that are reported to have worn culturally insensitive costumes or attend/host culturally insensitive parties will report to student conduct for bias/harassment infractions. . . .

"Hate speech is speech that offends, threatens, or insults groups, based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, gender expression, disability, or other traits.. . ."

Professors, staff members, and non-academic employees will be in danger of losing their jobs, and non-tenure track faculty will lose tenure status if they perpetuate hate speech that threatens the safety of students of color. They will also be liable if the discriminatory attitudes behind the speech could potentially harm the academic achievements of students of color.

Of course, recall that "threatens the safety of students of color" these days is certainly not limited to threats of physical attack, for which of course employees can already lose their jobs, but is used with regard to a wide range of speech that some people find offense or distressing. And of course offending or insulting students of pallor would remain just fine.