Free speech – the right to speak one’s mind – is indispensable to our freedom and constitutional government. This right is absolutely guaranteed to “we the people” by the First Amendment. It is a right that protects freedom of expression (with narrowly limited exceptions) regardless of the message, ideas, subject matter or content.
Shockingly, this fundamental right is under relentless assault by the progressive left pressing racist diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, a cancel culture focused on mandating the woke ideology and censoring countervailing views. College campuses have been overwhelmed by this ideological orthodoxy and censorship. Congress must act to address this constitutional crisis.
Traditionally, as emphasized by the Supreme Court of the United States, our Nation has been “deeply committed” to the “transcendent value” of “safeguarding academic freedom” and the “robust exchange of ideas”; and that the classroom should be a “market place of ideas” and free from the “pall of orthodoxy” (Keyishian v. Board of Regents).
Today, however, universities are mandating the woke, progressive ideology and DEI as dogma; suppressing political debate and academic freedom; establishing strict speech codes; restricting speech to so-called “free speech zones”; imposing punitive actions against students and professors who deviate from the mandated orthodoxy; discriminating in student admissions and faculty hiring; and banning speakers representing contrary conservative perspectives.
This push by the progressive left to expand DEI indoctrination in education is relentless. Many colleges are now mandating DEI courses to graduate. The 64-campus SUNY college system (SUNY DEI Plan) and the University of California San Diego (DEI Course), for example, are now requiring students to pass a specialized DEI course to graduate. The College of Education at California State University Long Beach touts that it has established a comprehensive curriculum initiative with a DEI focus that integrates DEI “into and throughout its curriculum and courses” and has established a “shared DEI language.” Carnegie Mellon University provides strategies for professors to “intentionally enhance” DEI in their teaching. Many colleges — Boston College, Harvard, and the University of Georgia — to name a few — are offering DEI Certificate programs. Even the Council for Higher Education Accreditation has issued a DEI Mission Statement promoting DEI indoctrination for a “more enlightened progressive society.” And the examples go on and on.
This DEI indoctrination and cancel culture is contrary to the fundamental principle of academic freedom that traditionally was essential to the university educational mission. It is the antithesis of free speech and is neither diverse nor inclusive. And worse it is all paid for by the federal government through our tax dollars. It is, in effect, government-sponsored indoctrination, censorship and discrimination as billions of federal dollars are funneled to colleges through research grants, Pell grants, recent COVID relief, and other programs.
Congress must put an end to its sponsorship of this DEI onslaught by terminating funding for these programs. To this end, Congress should condition federal funding on colleges committing to protect and promote free expression and academic freedom; eliminating DEI course requirements, restrictive speech codes and speech zones; and ending DEI discriminatory practices in student admissions and faculty hiring. Further, to ensure compliance, Congress should establish a federal administrative complaint process that will expeditiously review complaints and provide judicial review.
The progressive left’s assault on education is a dangerous threat to our democracy, free speech, and academic freedom. Congress must act to protect our constitutional government and individual liberty. The key is not bans, but to starve the beast.
Michael Clancy is a lawyer, political and legal commentator, and former congressional candidate. He can be followed on Twitter @MikeClancyVA.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.