By creating and enforcing policies that protect free speech while facilitating hard conversations across ideological divides, universities can meet the current moment with the maturity it demands
Outstanding piece, Beri! Thank you for sharing your important and insightful perspective, for your work with Braver Angels, for highlighting that and other organizations working to bring us together as Americans across our policy differences.
Thank you so much for your kind and supportive words, Rick! I wouldn't have found Braver Angels and been able to support our amazing mission without you.
Excellent piece highlight the difficulty and frustration of attempting open dialogue about difficult topics on college campuses. Kudos to Berivan for addressing this topic honestly and constructively.
This article naively misses the point - conflating free speech with anti-Semitic vitriol condones the existential threat it represents. “From the river to the sea”= mutual exclusion.
Mistaking the aggressor with the victim = propaganda.
Thank you for your comment. The focus of this article is not on the content of free speech, but on promoting constructive dialogue. The aim is to create structured spaces where students can engage in meaningful conversations, even on difficult topics, without hostility. It’s about fostering understanding rather than escalating tensions.
It is the very content which is at stake. Sitting across the table with someone who is preaching mutual exclusion (river to the sea) is pointless. Would it be ok to sit across from a Nazi to discuss the Jewish fate? Or inviting a member of the Turkish ruling party to weigh in on the fate of the Kurds? Or asking the KKK to discuss living with Blacks in the communities they co-inhabit?
The point of dialog is lost when the premise of one side is mutual exclusion and this is further abetted by portraying the victim as the aggressor and vice versa as a political tool.
Under these conditions, such dialog is not a means to an end, but sadly, the end.
Thank you for your perspective. The goal of structured dialogue is to create space for productive conversations, not to validate harmful ideologies. While avoiding dialogue can deepen divides, the intent here is to foster understanding. For example, Daryl Davis, a Black musician, famously engaged members of the KKK in conversation and ultimately helped change minds. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/black-man-stuns-kkk-leaders-civility-learn-what-next-tony-d-amelio/). If you're passionate about the content of free speech, I encourage you to write an article exploring this important topic further.
Citing individual exceptions to the hate rhetoric does not nullify the vast movement at play on campuses. Daryl Davis sitting down with some members of the KKK did not change the policies of that hate group.
Utopian ideals aside, no one would mistake the mandate of the KKK as humanistic nor would one expect the same of Nazis, nor the Turkish Justice Party, nor Hamas/Hezbollah/IRGC.
All we really need to do is identify the *real* grownups and put *them* in charge. The so-called 'leaders' in academia are too weak to do anything meaningful. They're as immature as the children who come to them as students, which is a joke as the children already think they know it all. (Remember when *we* were that young and silly?) There ARE real grownups left, but they've got to have the balls and labia to stand up to the woke progressives who have wrought this unholy mess. It's time to start expelling anyone who can't handle free speech or respond to genuine criticism with anything other than "Right winger!" and "Fascist!"
Outstanding piece, Beri! Thank you for sharing your important and insightful perspective, for your work with Braver Angels, for highlighting that and other organizations working to bring us together as Americans across our policy differences.
Thank you so much for your kind and supportive words, Rick! I wouldn't have found Braver Angels and been able to support our amazing mission without you.
Excellent piece highlight the difficulty and frustration of attempting open dialogue about difficult topics on college campuses. Kudos to Berivan for addressing this topic honestly and constructively.
Thank you, Randy!
Amen!
Chances come with every new day. The problem isn't lack of chances. It's the woke left ideologues.
This article naively misses the point - conflating free speech with anti-Semitic vitriol condones the existential threat it represents. “From the river to the sea”= mutual exclusion.
Mistaking the aggressor with the victim = propaganda.
Being “woke” = being asleep at the wheel.
Thank you for your comment. The focus of this article is not on the content of free speech, but on promoting constructive dialogue. The aim is to create structured spaces where students can engage in meaningful conversations, even on difficult topics, without hostility. It’s about fostering understanding rather than escalating tensions.
It is the very content which is at stake. Sitting across the table with someone who is preaching mutual exclusion (river to the sea) is pointless. Would it be ok to sit across from a Nazi to discuss the Jewish fate? Or inviting a member of the Turkish ruling party to weigh in on the fate of the Kurds? Or asking the KKK to discuss living with Blacks in the communities they co-inhabit?
The point of dialog is lost when the premise of one side is mutual exclusion and this is further abetted by portraying the victim as the aggressor and vice versa as a political tool.
Under these conditions, such dialog is not a means to an end, but sadly, the end.
Thank you for your perspective. The goal of structured dialogue is to create space for productive conversations, not to validate harmful ideologies. While avoiding dialogue can deepen divides, the intent here is to foster understanding. For example, Daryl Davis, a Black musician, famously engaged members of the KKK in conversation and ultimately helped change minds. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/black-man-stuns-kkk-leaders-civility-learn-what-next-tony-d-amelio/). If you're passionate about the content of free speech, I encourage you to write an article exploring this important topic further.
Citing individual exceptions to the hate rhetoric does not nullify the vast movement at play on campuses. Daryl Davis sitting down with some members of the KKK did not change the policies of that hate group.
Utopian ideals aside, no one would mistake the mandate of the KKK as humanistic nor would one expect the same of Nazis, nor the Turkish Justice Party, nor Hamas/Hezbollah/IRGC.
All we really need to do is identify the *real* grownups and put *them* in charge. The so-called 'leaders' in academia are too weak to do anything meaningful. They're as immature as the children who come to them as students, which is a joke as the children already think they know it all. (Remember when *we* were that young and silly?) There ARE real grownups left, but they've got to have the balls and labia to stand up to the woke progressives who have wrought this unholy mess. It's time to start expelling anyone who can't handle free speech or respond to genuine criticism with anything other than "Right winger!" and "Fascist!"