{"id":90279,"date":"2013-11-10T08:22:44","date_gmt":"2013-11-10T07:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/memoryholeblog.com\/2013\/11\/10\/the-subtle-mechanics-of-unfree-speech\/"},"modified":"2013-11-10T08:22:44","modified_gmt":"2013-11-10T07:22:44","slug":"the-subtle-mechanics-of-unfree-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/the-subtle-mechanics-of-unfree-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"The Subtle Mechanics of Unfree Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"\"\u201cWe need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?\u201d\u2013Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451<\/em><\/p>\n

A cascade of managerial and public relations blunders has prompted Florida Atlantic University administrators to introduce The Agora Project<\/a>, a broad initiative intending to promote \u201cthe practice of civility and civil discourse in an environment of free speech, academic freedom and open dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faculty valuing free speech and academic freedom whose persistent efforts at cultivating such through their teaching and research will likely be intrigued in hearing of the Agora Project, an endeavor proffering \u201cforums on the importance of academic freedom, academic responsibility, and freedom of expression;\u201d the program even promises to \u201ccreate workshops on how best to practice civil and respectful interaction with others; and provide opportunities to discuss, dialogue and debate matters relevant to FAU and to our world.\u201d<\/p>\n

One is to conclude that, left to their own devices, faculty members and students may never arrive at a rational approach toward civility. Moreover, they may even become suspicious in the event that they are force-fed such an agenda. Indeed, after the Delphi-style exercise was presented at a recent faculty meeting, a colleague quietly pulled me aside and remarked, \u201cThis isn\u2019t about civility. It\u2019s about control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will this individual soon be vociferously questioning Agora? Likely no. Wouldn\u2019t want to \u201crock the boat\u201d and draw attention to her\/himself. Could s\/he perhaps be on to something? Likely yes.<\/p>\n

Not coincidentally, Agora was unveiled by university administrators in August 2013, a few short weeks after a speech code issued by FAU\u2019s Division of Student Affairs was condemned<\/a> by the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and subsequently revised<\/a>. \u201cHere at FAU,\u201d the original speech code reads,<\/p>\n

\n

we encourage our campus community to exercise this cherished freedom in lively debate. In fact, we protect and promote that right. What we do insist on, however, is that everyone in the FAU community behave and speak to and about one another in ways that are not racist, religiously intolerant or otherwise degrading to others<\/strong>. (Emphasis added.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

FIRE countered that such a policy could impinge on constitutionally-protected speech and expression, possibly quashing not only academic discussion and inquiry, but also protest and debate on the Israeli\/Palestinian conflict under the guise of \u201creligious intolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, an injunction on \u201cracist\u201d speech might be used to discipline vibrant exchanges on immigration and affirmative action. \u201cAnd the prohibition on \u2018otherwise degrading\u2019 speech could apply to speech on virtually any<\/em> topic that offends another person,\u201d FIRE contends.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A cynic might conclude that The Agora Project is a backdoor effort to provide the basis for extending such criteria across each of the University\u2019s constituencies\u2013faculty, students, staff\u2013with their implicit approval given the plan\u2019s professed effort of consultation and engagement.<\/p>\n

Along these lines, perhaps the endeavor is an effort to assuage certain communities who for some reason aren\u2019t comfortable with or seek to discontinue open discussion, debate, and social protest\u2013all of which are to be anticipated in a space devoted to the expansion of intellectual horizons.<\/p>\n

Of course, those in the upper echelons of university oversight\u2013the administrators and trustees\u2013who are pushing for prospective speech protocols are exempt from such measures, as their actions and behavior are apparently beyond reproach.<\/p>\n

For example, last spring then-president Mary Jane Saunders ran into a protesting student with her Lexus sedan, fled the scene down the wrong way of a one-way street, and was subsequently defended by FAU trustees while the police investigating the incident discounted Saunders\u2019 clear commitment of one or more felonies.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the \u201cconspiracy theory professor\u201d and \u201cstomp on Jesus\u201d controversies, and protests surrounding a deal that would name the university\u2019s new football stadium after a transnational for-profit prison outfit, dental industry entrepreneur and Republican Party functionary Jeffrey Feingold remarked<\/a>, \u201cI don\u2019t want hear any more people say they think the lunatics have taken over the asylum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feingold went on to criticize<\/a> continued use of a headhunting firm that identified administrative candidates including Saunders because it allegedly produces \u201closers.\u201d He went on to suggest a remarkably bizarre and insulting conspiracy theory that nonviolent campus protests by FAU students\u2013the very children of Florida taxpayers who\u2019ve elected to attend FAU\u2014may culminate in violent terrorist attacks comparable to the Boston Marathon bombings! Unsurprisingly, no media attention or faculty outrage is afforded Feingold\u2019s truly wacko theory.<\/p>\n

One might ask, how is anyone given license for such behavior and remarks? Well, in January the ever-modest Feingold gave<\/a> FAU $250,000 to name the university\u2019s Board of Trustees room after him. \u201cFrom those to whom much is given, much is expected,\u201d he dictated.<\/p>\n

\"\"With the above in mind, one\u2019s imagination needn\u2019t work overtime to identify the likely proponents of The Agora Project and its velvet-gloved implementation of \u201cfree speech and civility.\u201d When FAU\u2019s head honchos recently sat down to discuss selection of a new president, FAU Foundation Board Vice Chair and former Virginia \u201csuper lawyer\u201d Jay Weinberg observed<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\n

Because we are a diverse university \u2026 that doesn\u2019t mean that we tolerate bigotry or prejudice. You have to draw a keen distinction between free speech and hate speech. I think that [in light of] recent events at this university, we need a president that understands that and who will act decisively with respect to it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In other words, a principal holders of the institution\u2019s purse strings asserts that the ideal chief administrator should reprimand and perhaps even fire faculty and staff who articulate extraordinary perspectives\u2013ones that may fulfill the arbitrary and Kafkaesque notion of \u201chate speech.\u201d In Agora-speak, this would inevitably involve violation of proposed \u201crespectful\u201d and \u201ccivic\u201d discourse with-a-twist etiquettes.<\/p>\n

In the subtly forced conversation on \u201ccivility,\u201d \u201cacademic freedom,\u201d and \u201crespectful interaction,\u201d a more clear-cut definition of what exactly constitutes meaningful exchange has been wholly lost, or, perhaps more fittingly, supplanted. In reality, couldn\u2019t such a discussion be targeting the ideals that provide the basis for better understanding \u201csomething important, something real\u201d that \u201creally bothers\u201d certain individuals \u2026 thus challenging them to consider an issue, an event, or a problem at a far deeper level?<\/p>\n

When a university ceases to be a place where a wide expanse of \u201ccontroversial\u201d ideas and dialogues can be spontaneously ruminated on, one can safely conclude that it has made the transition from sanctuary and laboratory of free thought and ideas to a mere appendage of the consciousness industry and workhouse of the mind.<\/p>\n

-JFT<\/p>\n

\n
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Like this:<\/h3>\n

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\n

\"\"“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”—Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451<\/em><\/p>\n

A cascade of managerial and public relations blunders has prompted Florida Atlantic University administrators to introduce The Agora Project<\/a>, a broad initiative intending to promote “the practice of civility and civil discourse in an environment of free speech, academic freedom and open dialogue.”<\/p>\n

Faculty valuing free speech and academic freedom whose persistent efforts at cultivating such through their teaching and research will likely be intrigued in hearing of the Agora Project, an endeavor proffering “forums on the importance of academic freedom, academic responsibility, and freedom of expression;” the program even promises to “create workshops on how best to practice civil and respectful interaction with others; and provide opportunities to discuss, dialogue and debate matters relevant to FAU and to our world.”<\/p>\n

One is to conclude that, left to their own devices, faculty members and students may never arrive at a rational approach toward civility. Moreover, they may even become suspicious in the event that they are force-fed such an agenda. Indeed, after the Delphi-style exercise was presented at a recent faculty meeting, a colleague quietly pulled me aside and remarked, “This isn’t about civility. It’s about control.”<\/p>\n

Will this individual soon be vociferously questioning Agora? Likely no. Wouldn’t want to “rock the boat” and draw attention to her\/himself. Could s\/he perhaps be on to something? Likely yes.<\/p>\n

Not coincidentally, Agora was unveiled by university administrators in August 2013, a few short weeks after a speech code issued by FAU’s Division of Student Affairs was condemned<\/a> by the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and subsequently revised<\/a>. “Here at FAU,” the original speech code reads,<\/p>\n

\n

we encourage our campus community to exercise this cherished freedom in lively debate. In fact, we protect and promote that right. What we do insist on, however, is that everyone in the FAU community behave and speak to and about one another in ways that are not racist, religiously intolerant or otherwise degrading to others<\/strong>. (Emphasis added.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

FIRE countered that such a policy could impinge on constitutionally-protected speech and expression, possibly quashing not only academic discussion and inquiry, but also protest and debate on the Israeli\/Palestinian conflict under the guise of “religious intolerance.”<\/p>\n

In addition, an injunction on “racist” speech might be used to discipline vibrant exchanges on immigration and affirmative action. “And the prohibition on ‘otherwise degrading’ speech could apply to speech on virtually any<\/em> topic that offends another person,” FIRE contends.<\/p>\n

 A cynic might conclude that The Agora Project is a backdoor effort to provide the basis for extending such criteria across each of the University’s constituencies—faculty, students, staff—with their implicit approval given the plan’s professed effort of consultation and engagement.<\/p>\n

Along these lines, perhaps the endeavor is an effort to assuage certain communities who for some reason aren’t comfortable with or seek to discontinue open discussion, debate, and social protest—all of which are to be anticipated in a space devoted to the expansion of intellectual horizons.<\/p>\n

Of course, those in the upper echelons of university oversight—the administrators and trustees—who are pushing for prospective speech protocols are exempt from such measures, as their actions and behavior are apparently beyond reproach.<\/p>\n

For example, last spring then-president Mary Jane Saunders ran into a protesting student with her Lexus sedan, fled the scene down the wrong way of a one-way street, and was subsequently defended by FAU trustees while the police investigating the incident discounted Saunders’ clear commitment of one or more felonies.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the “conspiracy theory professor” and “stomp on Jesus” controversies, and protests surrounding a deal that would name the university’s new football stadium after a transnational for-profit prison outfit, dental industry entrepreneur and Republican Party functionary Jeffrey Feingold remarked<\/a>, “I don’t want hear any more people say they think the lunatics have taken over the asylum.”<\/p>\n

Feingold went on to criticize<\/a> continued use of a headhunting firm that identified administrative candidates including Saunders because it allegedly produces “losers.” He went on to suggest a remarkably bizarre and insulting conspiracy theory that nonviolent campus protests by FAU students—the very children of Florida taxpayers who’ve elected to attend FAU–may culminate in violent terrorist attacks comparable to the Boston Marathon bombings! Unsurprisingly, no media attention or faculty outrage is afforded Feingold’s truly wacko theory.<\/p>\n

One might ask, how is anyone given license for such behavior and remarks? Well, in January the ever-modest Feingold gave<\/a> FAU $250,000 to name the university’s Board of Trustees room after him. “From those to whom much is given, much is expected,” he dictated.<\/p>\n

\"\"With the above in mind, one’s imagination needn’t work overtime to identify the likely proponents of The Agora Project and its velvet-gloved implementation of “free speech and civility.” When FAU’s head honchos recently sat down to discuss selection of a new president, FAU Foundation Board Vice Chair and former Virginia “super lawyer” Jay Weinberg observed<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\n

Because we are a diverse university … that doesn’t mean that we tolerate bigotry or prejudice. You have to draw a keen distinction between free speech and hate speech. I think that [in light of] recent events at this university, we need a president that understands that and who will act decisively with respect to it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In other words, a principal holders of the institution’s purse strings asserts that the ideal chief administrator should reprimand and perhaps even fire faculty and staff who articulate extraordinary perspectives—ones that may fulfill the arbitrary and Kafkaesque notion of “hate speech.” In Agora-speak, this would inevitably involve violation of proposed “respectful” and “civic” discourse with-a-twist etiquettes.<\/p>\n

In the subtly forced conversation on “civility,” “academic freedom,” and “respectful interaction,” a more clear-cut definition of what exactly constitutes meaningful exchange has been wholly lost, or, perhaps more fittingly, supplanted. In reality, couldn’t such a discussion be targeting the ideals that provide the basis for better understanding “something important, something real” that “really bothers” certain individuals … thus challenging them to consider an issue, an event, or a problem at a far deeper level?<\/p>\n

When a university ceases to be a place where a wide expanse of “controversial” ideas and dialogues can be spontaneously ruminated on, one can safely conclude that it has made the transition from sanctuary and laboratory of free thought and ideas to a mere appendage of the consciousness industry and workhouse of the mind.<\/p>\n

-JFT<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Like this:<\/h3>\n

Like<\/span> Loading…<\/span><\/p>\n

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