Ben Carson, Jordan Peterson, Ted Cruz among those condemning Yale Law students who heckled free speech panelists
Conservative leaders were among 1,400 signatories to a letter to Yale Law School, condemning students who exercised a heckler’s veto at an event about free speech.
'Our nation desperately needs the next generation of attorneys, legislators, judges, and Supreme Court justices to be marked by the character and values that undergird the American legal profession and a free society,' the statement reads.
Conservative thought leaders and lawmakers are condemning Yale Law School for its students’ disdain for free expression, as was exhibited by a March protest that attempted to censor a bipartisan event on free speech.
Campus Reform covered the March incident.
“Freedom of speech is under attack, plain and simple,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-NC) told Campus Reform. “If we don’t stand up and fight in defense of free expression, we will ultimately lose it.”
On Apr. 7, conservative leaders endorsed a letter to Yale Law School’s leadership that proclaimed the need to take “concrete action” and correct the course of the institution.
The letter was sponsored by The Philadelphia Statement.
The approximately 1,400 signatories include psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, neurosurgeon and former Trump administration official Ben Carson, Senator Ted Cruz, Princeton professor Robert P. George, and Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts.
The letter is signed by 24 state attorneys general, members of Congress, and five governors.
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“Our nation desperately needs the next generation of attorneys, legislators, judges, and Supreme Court justices to be marked by the character and values that undergird the American legal profession and a free society,” the statement read. “These include, at the very least, respect for the right to freedom of speech, a commitment to living peacefully with one another despite differences, and esteem for truly open dialogue and debate.”
The letter exhorted administrators to commit to cultivating an environment of free speech, ensure that speakers with diverse views are welcome, condemn the protesting students, and retract their original statement in support of the students’ behavior.
“I am deeply troubled by institutions, in this case Yale Law, failing to swiftly intervene when intolerant students attempt to silence those they disagree with,” Norman continued. “If our most prestigious institutions do not protect the integrity of free expression, others will do the same.”
[RELATED: Professor tells Yale Law students to ‘grow up’ as they disrupt free speech event]
As Campus Reform previously reported, the Yale Federalist Society recently attempted to host a panel discussion that featured America Humanist Association’s Monica Miller and Alliance Defending Freedom’s Kristen Waggoner.
The former is a liberal atheist, while the latter is a conservative Christian. The event itself was designed to show that both individuals could find common ground through their defense of free speech.
Nevertheless, over 100 student protesters flooded the event, holding signs, shouting obscenities, and otherwise disrupting the conversation. Even after they were forced to leave, the students pounded the walls, shouted and stomped. Chants including “protect trans kids” and “shame, shame” were echoed.
Yale Law School is ranked as the number-one law school in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Three of the current nine Supreme Court justices are alumni of the institution.
Campus Reform reached out to several of the aforementioned conservatives, as well as the Philadelphia Statement, for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
