The Morning: Why campus speech is vexing

Plus, the Texas Supreme Court, Jack Smith and NASA's logo.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story December 12, 2023 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We're covering the debate over speech and safety on college campuses — as well as the Texas Supreme Court, Jack Smith and NASA's logo. The Harvard University campus. Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times Feeling welcome The Hamas-Israel war has caused so much turmoil on campuses partly because it has highlighted a tension that university administrators haven't fully acknowledged. Many colleges have embraced broad notions of safety in recent years, promising to make their students feel comfortable and welcome. The goal is in many ways understandable, especially for students who find campuses to be uneasy places because they are among the first in their families to attend college. One way to make students feel safe, schools have decided, is to restrict speech that upsets students. By now, you have no doubt heard about some of the examples, most of which involve sanctions on conservative expression. M.I.T., for instance, disinvited a geophysicist from giving a lecture because he criticized aspects of affirmative action. But there have also been restrictions on left-leaning expression: Late in the Covid pandemic, M.I.T. barred students from asking others to wear a mask. Expression is safety Either way, a basic tension exists. Maximizing everybody's sense of safety and comfort is often impossible. On many of society's biggest political issues, the expression of certain views will make some students feel uncomfortable. Yet the restriction of those same views will make others feel uncomfortable — because the ability to speak honestly about important issues is a part of feeling welcome in a community. The Covid mask debate is a useful example. Being around unmasked classmates who might spread germs makes some students feel uncomfortable. And being pressured to cover your face with a mask for months on end makes others feel uncomfortable. Neither group is necessarily wrong. Each has different priorities. There are plenty of other examples. Debates over affirmative action are often struggles about whether colleges should enroll more or fewer students from different groups — Asian, Black, Hispanic and white. Strong opinions will make some students feel more or less welcome on a campus. These tensions have remained somewhat sublimated until recently, partly because the debates are often one-sided. Fewer than 20 percent of students at most selective colleges identify as conservative, according to surveys by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The conservative share is below 10 percent at dozens of colleges, including Brown, Colgate, Emory, Grinnell, Johns Hopkins, Middlebury, Oberlin, Penn, Pomona, Williams and the University of Vermont. This war is different Harvard's president, Claudine Gay, at a Shabbat service held in solidarity with Israel. Sophie Park for The New York Times The Hamas-Israel war has brought these tensions to the fore because both sides in the debate have large campus constituencies. Many Jewish students — and conservatives — believe that colleges have hypocritically allowed celebrations of Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre and antisemitic calls for future violence. (This belief underpinned the tough questioning of three university presidents last week by Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman, which led to apologies from two of the three and the resignation of one, as my colleague Nicholas Confessore has explained.) At the same time, many Palestinian students — and their allies, who tend to be on the political left — believe they are at risk of harassment, and the loss of future jobs, for making principled arguments about human suffering and democratic rights. The problem for universities is that they can't always make both sides feel safe. Pro-Palestinian students, for instance, may understandably feel unwelcome if they cannot criticize Israel as an occupying power that has seized Palestinian land in the West Bank and has killed thousands of people in Gaza since Oct. 7. These students may advocate a "free Palestine from the river to the sea" or a "right of return" as ways to express support for a single nation that incorporates all of Israel and its occupied territory. Pro-Israel students, for their part, may understandably hear these statements as calls for the elimination of the world's only Jewish nation, to be replaced by yet another Muslim-dominated one. They may point out that many college activists seem to care more about the human rights record of Israel than, say, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Hamas. In recent years, U.S. colleges have indeed focused more on restricting speech that upsets liberals than conservatives. That inconsistency — which Jewish students and their allies have highlighted — has put university leaders in an awkward position. Whatever their own politics, they are uncomfortable publicly defending one standard for one ideology and another for a different ideology. Many are now trying to figure out what to do. The answers are not easy. Some political speech does cross the line into harassment or even advocacy for violence. And universities, especially private ones, have the right to adopt a more restrictive standard than the First Amendment does. But university leaders do face a basic choice. Do they want to expand the list of restricted speech to include more statements that make conservatives, Jewish students and others feel unsafe? Or do they want to shrink the list and tell all students that they will need to feel uncomfortable at times? For more Harvard's governing board is expected to announce today whether the university's president, Claudine Gay, should remain in her job. In Times Opinion, Maureen Dowd, Michelle Goldberg, David French and Bret Stephens have each written columns on campus speech. "The anti-Israel activists complain that their critics stop caring about free speech when the speech is pro-Palestinian, while the pro-Israel activists accuse the pro-Palestinian left of abandoning its commitment to safety and tolerance when the victims are Jewish," Jonathan Chait wrote in New York magazine. "Both criticisms have a lot of truth." Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Israel-Hamas War U.S. officials said the Iranian-backed Houthi militia struck a Norwegian commercial ship with a cruise missile in the Red Sea. The Biden administration is looking into reports that Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus illegally in Lebanon. Diseases are spreading in Gaza because of dirty water and overcrowded shelters. Power and cellphone troubles leave many Gazans struggling to track Israel's evacuation orders. Those who can see them often find them contradictory and confusing. Israeli strikes have flattened neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip. Here are before and after images. Politics Jack Smith, the special counsel, asked the Supreme Court to rule quickly on Donald Trump's claim that he is immune to prosecution for attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against a woman who sought a court-approved abortion. She plans to leave the state for the procedure. Two Georgia election workers are seeking as much as $43 million in defamation damages from Rudy Giuliani over claims about their work in 2020. Oregon's governor has a plan to clean up Portland: more police enforcement, and a ban on public drug use. War in Ukraine In Chasiv Yar, Ukraine. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times With U.S. help, Ukraine is searching for a new strategy after its counteroffensive failed to retake much territory. Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington to push for additional aid. He is expected to meet with President Biden and U.S. lawmakers today. International Aleksei Navalny, Russia's jailed opposition leader, missed a court date. His allies expressed concern, saying they have not heard from him in days. Xi Jinping, China's leader, arrived in Vietnam, on a rare trip abroad to strengthen ties and counter U.S. influence. Iran has put an E.U. official from Sweden on trial. One charge could carry the death penalty. Poland's Parliament chose a new prime minister, stopping an effort by right-wing forces to stay in power after an election defeat. Health Care Black women say doctors often neglect them. The consequences can be deadly — they die of pregnancy-related complications two to three times as often as white women. Pediatricians are skeptical about prescribing anti-obesity medicines to teenagers, citing a lack of data on long-term effects. People who stop using one new anti-obesity drug regain most, but not all, of the weight they lost, a study found. Other Big Stories Jessica Jones and her three daughters. Elizabeth Bick for The New York Times Many Americans now spend at least half their income on shelter, leaving less for everything else. A jury ruled that Google violated antitrust laws to extract fees and limit competition from developers on its mobile app store. A Texas judge upheld a ban on state employees using TikTok on government devices and networks. Lawyers argued that the rule violated the First Amendment. The United Automobile Workers union accused Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen of interfering with unionizing efforts at U.S. plants. The Air Force disciplined 15 military personnel for failing to stop an Air National Guardsman from posting classified documents online. The Nation, a progressive magazine, will soon publish monthly instead of every other week. Opinions The economy is strong. And journalists too often search for bad news to justify Americans' negative perceptions, Paul Krugman writes. Texas' treatment of a woman who sought a court-approved abortion shows that cynical exemptions in anti-abortion laws do little to protect women, Michelle Goldberg writes. Last chance before the holidays. Subscribe to Cooking. A Cooking subscription answers "What's for dinner?" deliciously, every day. Explore more than 4,000 five-star recipes. Save 50% on your first year of Cooking. MORNING READS The worm logo on a jet engine.  Squirmy letters: The "worm," a logo that NASA dumped over 30 years ago, is experiencing a renaissance inside and outside the agency. "Whamageddon": A December tradition challenges people to go as long as possible without hearing the Wham! song "Last Christmas" before Christmas Day. M3gan and boygenius: Here are 24 things that our colleagues on the Culture desk couldn't stop thinking about this year. Strange toy: Cookeez Makery has beguiled children and adults by combining elements of Build-a-Bear and the Easy-Bake Oven. Lives Lived: Dr. John A. Talbott championed the care of vulnerable mentally ill people, especially the homeless. He died at 88. SPORTS Monday Night Football: The New York Giants earned some possible playoff positioning with a fun win over the Green Bay Packers, 24-22. The Tennessee Titans mounted a comeback to upset the Miami Dolphins, 28-27. M.L.B.: Shohei Ohtani will defer most of his $700 million contract, giving the Dodgers unexpected flexibility to spend elsewhere. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS At the Musée d'Orsay. Elliott Verdier for The New York Times Bonjour Vincent!: The Musée D'Orsay in Paris has undertaken a bold attempt at championing Vincent Van Gogh's legacy: an A.I. reconstruction of him, based on his letters and early biographies, that fields questions from visitors. The most common questions so far relate to his suicide in 1890. Read more here. More on culture The Golden Globes nominations are out: "Barbie" leads the movie category with nine, followed by "Oppenheimer" with eight. Here are the surprises and snubs. A co-defendant of the rapper Young Thug was stabbed in jail, delaying a racketeering and gang conspiracy case in Atlanta. All seven members of the K-pop group BTS are now undertaking mandatory military service in South Korea. Some fans say they should be exempt. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … James Ransom for The New York Times Roast salt-and-pepper chicken thighs atop sweet, buttery brioche. Make more time for yourself during work hours. Choose the right Xbox. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was laundry. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow.— David P.S. Today's paper is the 60,000th print issue of The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Lauren Jackson, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018