Free Speech and Debate on College Campuses is Powerful
A Response to a Wall Street Journal article
A recent Wall Street Journal article discussed Bucknell University’s Open Discourse Coalition. In it, the authors wrote:
Open Discourse Coalition also sponsors a faculty association—the Bucknell Program for American Leadership. Members support cultural and ideological diversity within the tradition of the liberal arts. They have hosted programs for students featuring such speakers as Jason Riley, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Jordan Peterson and Edward Snowden.
Our organization’s effect is spreading. Students from Susquehanna University, 15 minutes away, have begun attending Open Discourse Coalition programs at Bucknell and are asking how they can have this on their campus. The Alumni Free Speech Alliance, which began with five groups in 2021, has added 11 more, including Open Discourse Coalition.
Given the authors implied Susquehanna University does not have open discourse, Assistant Professor of Finance Pete Dadalt recommended a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal. I coauthored a letter with President Jonathan Green which we submitted to the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago. Given it appears they are not going to run it, I want to publish it here:
Free Speech and Debate on College Campuses is Powerful
Jonathan Green and Matthew Rousu
We enjoyed the article “A Glimmer of Hope in Higher Education.” It implied, however, that Susquehanna University is not promoting events representing diversity of thought by saying our students “Are asking how they can have this on their campus.”
We want to assure readers that Susquehanna has a proud record of speakers from multiple perspectives. In Spring 2018, we hosted both Ben Shapiro and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendall. What was noteworthy was that our College Republicans and College Democrats co-sponsored both events, and the University supported the logistics. Many College Republicans disagreed with Rendell and many College Democrats disagreed with Shapiro, but both organizations saw value in bringing these speakers to campus.
Recently, Susquehanna sponsored two high-profile debates. Edward Conard and Mark Rank debated “The Economics of Poverty, Inequality, and Economic Growth” in April 2022. And in September 2023, we hosted Claudia Williamson and Carson Reeling to debate “How Much Should We Regulate the Economy to Fix the Environment?” Both events successfully modeled civil discourse.
To our delight, Susquehanna University College Democrats and College Republicans continue to co-sponsor events. Later this month, they will host a forum featuring state representatives from both sides of the aisle.
We applaud the goals of the Open Discourse Coalition and think Susquehanna University is a shining example of open discourse in action.
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Jonathan Green is President and Matthew Rousu is Dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business at Susquehanna University
Note 1: Thanks again to Pete DaDalt for the inspiration for the nudge to write this!
Note 2: If you want to watch two of the events referenced in our letter, the videos are below: