Cornell University’s 2023-2024 school year portends to be chock-full of pro-free speech programs as the school announced the topic would be the “featured theme” for the next school year.
In a Friday announcement, the university said the school year would be dedicated to learning about the “significance, history, and challenges of free expression and academic freedom” as major universities nationwide, including Cornell, continue to grapple with student-led disruptions of campus events.
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“It is critical to our mission as a university to think deeply about freedom of expression and the challenges that result from assaults on it, which today come from both ends of the political spectrum,” Cornell President Martha Pollack said in a statement. “Learning from difference, learning to engage with difference, and learning to communicate across difference are key parts of a Cornell education. Free expression and academic freedom are the bedrock not just of the university, but of democracy.”
The planned programming for the year of free expression includes a website that the university says will launch prior to the beginning of the fall semester. The university also plans to host speakers on a variety of topics that “[model] respectful dialogue.”
“Students, faculty, and staff will be encouraged to engage with these ideas, and in civil discourse about them, through a wide range of scholarly and creative events and activities, from lectures to community book reads to artistic exhibitions and performances,” the university said in its press release.
Pollack will formally announce the theme on Monday.
Cornell found itself in the midst of a major free speech controversy last fall after student protesters disrupted an event with conservative author and commentator Ann Coulter, who is an alumna of the university.
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The disruption forced Coulter to cut her event short and prompted the university to issue an apology to Coulter and promised to discipline students that disrupted the event.
“The event was interrupted by attendees playing loud music and sound effects, and shouting profanities,” the university said at the time. “Eight college-age individuals were removed from the auditorium following Cornell protocols. All Cornell students among the disrupters will be referred for conduct violations.”
