After Middlebury incident, UVM discusses free speech – BurlingtonFreePress.com

A panel discussion on free speech had professors from Middlebury College and UVM discussing Charles Murray's March 2, 2017 talk. NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press

Jade Ye, Champlain College senior gave a talk on campus in April which will be shared on social media about free speech and the responsibilities of students in the classroom.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press)Buy Photo

Events at Champlain College and the University of Vermont had students and faculty talking about freespeechand who is responsible for decidingthe rules of engagement.

"From grade school onward,people use free speech as an excuse when they say ignorant or hateful things in a classroom," junior Jade Ye, apublic relations major and student ambassador at Champlain College, said last week.

Ye's April 6talk focused on the responsibilities of the students in the classroom.

Following the shouting down of author Charles Murray at a scheduled talk March 2 on the Middlebury College campus and the violent confrontation as Murray left,students and faculty are debating the definition of freespeech.

Erik Bleich, professor of political science, race and politics at Middlebury College with David Miranda Hardy, a Chilean film maker, Assistant Professor of Film & Media Culture at Middlebury on April 11 at a UVM round table on academic freedom and free speech on campuses.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DESMET/Free Press)

The discussion reaches beyond Vermont. Recently, author Heather Mac Donald wasshouted down by college students atUniversity of California at Los Angeles. Boston College students were disciplined in January for unregulated protests following the election of President Donald Trump.

But the trend for protesting has been ongoing for at least a few years. In the BerkshiresIn 2014International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde withdrewfrom speaking atSmith College's commencement because ofplannedprotests by faculty and students.

UVM had in thepast two months twoforums Black Board Jungle, a symposium to discussfree speech and hatespeech, anda professor round table that centered on the students who protested Murray.

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UVM professor Major Jackson spoke up at a round table discussion on free speech to point out language that replicates divisions instead of building bridges on April 11, 2017 at the UVM round table on free speech.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press)

Round table co-organizerMeaghan Emery mentioned in her introduction that a reason many faculty members chose not to attend was the continuing controversy surroundingMurrray's talk. Assistant professorswere feeling too vulnerable without tenuretoexpresstheir opinions on the topic.

Moderator Helen Morgan-Parmettbegan by askingwho gets todefineracism and the conversation jumped from there to free speech.

Middlebury College professor Erik Bleichargued that, even in countries with more regulations on free speech, Murray's talk would still have been protected.

Hardycounteredthat perhaps Murray's talk wasn't illegal but asked if the administration did a disservice to the student body by validating the speakerwith a platform.

Some students stand with their backs turned away from author Charles Murray as he attempted to address the group on March 2, 2017 at Middlebury College. The woman reading from the paper was one of the first students to interrupt Murray as he began his speech.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press)

"No one is saying remove [Murray's] books from the syllabus. I see our students of color engage in the most difficult questions on a daily basis. To pretend that students of color dont face ideas of white supremacy on a daily basis is ridiculous," Hardy said after aMiddlebury professor who attended the talk brought up The Atlantic's September cover story"The Coddling of the American Mind," in which the authorsdescribe college students demanding protection from ideas they don't like.

"I don'tsee it. I see a movement from the right to co-opt the right of free speech," Hardy said in defense of his students' abilities to broach difficult subjects. Bleichagreed.

Nevertheless, the argument came backaround to the beginning.

"The free exchange of ideas issacrosanct on a college campus, even the ones people find unethical," UVM professor Major Jackson said after the talk. "And yet freedom of speech has been weaponized against members of our community who are the most vulnerable."

A grad student in social psychology from UVM at the April 11 round table on academic freedom and free speech on campuses.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/ Free Press)

A student who identified herself as a UVM social psychology graduate student brought the conversation back to the classroom.

"When you saygive me your gut level reaction you are liable to hear everything. Thats when the safe classroom becomes unsafe and you lose control of the classroom and students," she said."Maybe thisisnt about free speech, it's about creating a coherent argument."

Ye at Champlain College took a similar stance.

"Both on the part of the school and on the part of the students,we have a responsibility to empower students, so they feel like they can seek out reliable sources and take responsibility for things they say in the classroom," Ye said.

Ye offered her own guidelines: Always stand up for what youthink is right.You can learn a lot if yousit back and listen. Do research to find accurate sources like you would for a paper.

"The most important thing is the listening side of communication," Ye said.

The talks at UVM andChamplain College will be shared online as soon as they are edited, according to the schools.

Contact Nicole Higgins DeSmet atndesmet@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1845. Follow her on Twitter@NicoleHDeSmet.

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After Middlebury incident, UVM discusses free speech - BurlingtonFreePress.com