House Reps, experts discuss DEI, free speech in higher ed at Campus Free Speech Roundtable
Rep. Burgess Owens described leftist trends on campus as ‘pure Marxism' during the Wednesday roundtable.
‘A lot of states like Texas, Florida, and some other ones, have some really good policies shutting down DEI departments. It's just a matter of the followup. That's the most important part,’ Cherise Trump told Campus Reform.
Members of Congress and a panel of experts gathered to discuss solutions regarding free speech and combating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in higher education at an annual roundtable.
The Fourth Annual Campus Free Speech Roundtable convened on Wednesday morning, featuring Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), and Burgess Owens (R-Utah), as well as representatives from several organizations dedicated to promoting the First Amendment and academic integrity.
Murphy was the host of the roundtable.
Foxx, who is also Chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, opened the roundtable by thanking Murphy for his Campus Free Speech Restoration Act, which, she said, “demands from the accreditation process [to] . . . refrain from compelling students and faculty to commit to certain viewpoints for ideologies.”
Murphy continued, saying the push for DEI and ideological conformity on campus marks “the greatest peer pressure since the Spanish Inquisition.” He particularly expressed his concern that leftist political indoctrination is taking over medical schools, something that is “putting lives at risk.” Murphy further emphasized that putting “sunlight onto an issue,” that is, calling public attention to harmful developments on campus, is incredibly helpful.
Owens expressed his belief that freedom of speech and thought are “at the core of who we are” as Americans, and added that Americans are “hungry for courage and leadership” on these issues.
The panelists expressed optimism about several developments in higher education.
Tyler Coward, Senior Legislative Counsel of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, mentioned that many colleges and universities have recently adopted policies of institutional neutrality–meaning they would not officially comment on controversial issues–and that school administrations have been dropping mandatory DEI statements.
John Craig, Chairman of Davidsonians for Freedom of Thought & Discourse, also mentioned the resignations of several Ivy League presidents following Congressional hearings on anti-Semitism, as well as the abolishing of DEI in multiple corporations, as positive developments. He stressed the need to keep the momentum going and continuing to “ride the wave.”
But there was also a sense that much work remained to be done, and several panelists mentioned the threats still posed to First Amendment rights on campus.
Jasmyn Jordan, a student at the University of Iowa and the National Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, mentioned how she was harassed and stalked by a man identifying as a female who was allegedly upset about her work in the conservative movement. She said the university took no effective action for a long time against his “relentless and escalating behavior over the course of a year,” until it was finally “forced to issue a long-overdue no-contact order.”
She continued, saying that “conservatives across the country, especially those involved in YAF chapters, continue to face similar threats and challenges that directly violate their First Amendment rights.” She mentioned a case–previously covered by Campus Reform–in which a University of Tampa RA training presented attendees with the case of a hypothetical student saying they felt “unsafe” due to their roommate belonging to YAF.
She also cited the case of the YAF chapter at St. Louis University that was met with “disciplinary action” for putting together a display to commemorate the victims of Sept. 11, and the case of the YAF chapter at Stetson University that was rebuked for spreading flyers about an event attacking gender ideology.
Owens praised Jordan and YAF’s work, saying that the organization is on “the front line.”
Cherise Trump, Executive Director of Speech First, criticized universities that use measures like “bias response teams,” which are “anonymous reporting systems where students are actually encouraged to report on one another [for things such as] microaggressions, misgendering, being mean [etc.].” She compared such measures to the Stasi, East Germany’s infamous secret police.
She stated that President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory shows there is a “mandate” against DEI, and revealed that DEI officers “are usually on these bias response teams. . . . leading the charge. They are the ones trying to target and censor speech most of the time on campuses.”
Cherise Trump further elaborated on how universities push DEI on students. She said that Speech First revealed that 67 percent “of the campuses, public and private across the country, are mandating students to take DEI full semester courses in order to satisfy Gen Ed requirements.” She said that solutions exist to such infractions, such as Speech First’s model policy, the Freedom from Indoctrination Act, which states that universities cannot “mandate DEI or ideological courses in order for students to graduate.”
Owens described the leftist trends that Cherise Trump was describing as “pure Marxism.”
Murphy spoke with Campus Reform after the event, calling DEI a “theology of divisiveness” and emphasizing the importance of exposing the harm of DEI to the American public. He also addressed anti-Semitic protests on college campuses, saying that “a lot can be done with funding [and] a lot can be done with lawsuits” to solve the issue.
[RELATED: UNT has removed DEI-based terms from 78 courses since passage of anti-DEI law]
He continued, discussing how the original purpose of tenure has been corrupted by academia. He stated that “tenure has no purpose anymore. . . . that’s a that’s a broader discussion, but I think it’s a discussion that needs to happen.”
Cherise Trump also spoke to Campus Reform, emphasizing the need for states to hold accountable universities that merely change the titles of their DEI programs without changing their mission: “A lot of states like Texas, Florida, and some other ones, have some really good policies shutting down DEI departments. It’s just a matter of the followup. That’s the most important part.”
Addressing tenure, she said: “There are a lot of pros and cons to tenure. . . . If you’re a conservative professor who has tenure, that also insulates you, ideally, from being fired for your viewpoints. . . . However, we’ve seen that conservative faculty who are being targeted aggressively on campus, even if they have tenure, oftentimes, [it] doesn’t work, they still find themselves in hot water and getting fired or repurposed and being demoted, essentially. So it’s not a guarantee if the entire institution is after you.”
She stated that this imbalance is why “increasing the numbers of conservative faculty on campus is more important” in order to enhance intellectual diversity.
Tyler Coward spoke to Campus Reform about free speech and anti-Semitism on campus. He stated that speech is not “protected” when a student is engaging “in a true threat,” “incitement to imminent lawless action,” or “discriminatory harassment.” He emphasized, however, that “protected speech” still falls under the protections of the First Amendment, even if such speech might seem abhorrent to those who disagree.
Campus Reform has reached out to Reps. Foxx and Owens for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
