A Stanford University student told lawmakers on Wednesday that students at his school are too afraid to speak their minds because they fear retaliation from school administrators who foster an environment of censorship
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Josiah Joner, a student at Stanford University and the executive editor of the Stanford Review, told lawmakers during a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development that students at his school are “scared to speak up” because university administrators will retaliate against them.
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“These incidents that we’ve seen across the country that are destroying debate in the classroom because students are too scared to speak up, and they know that if they say something, the university administration is going to come after them,” Joner said in response to a question from Rep. Bob Good (R-VA).
Censorship breeds ignorance and intolerance. We must fiercely defend free speech and diversity of thought on college campuses, even when we disagree with the views expressed. pic.twitter.com/4GZRdg5sSW
— Congressman Bob Good (@RepBobGood) March 29, 2023
The hearing comes weeks after a group of student protesters shouted down U.S. Fifth Circuit Court Judge Kyle Duncan and disrupted a lecture he was supposed to deliver at Stanford Law School. The protesters were joined by Stanford law school diversity, equity, and inclusion dean Tirien Steinbach, who has since been placed on administrative leave.
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Joner said that students at Stanford are not given any seminars or lectures on freedom of speech during orientation, and that the majority of college students do not understand it. He added that administrators should take the lead on teaching students about freedom of speech.
“What we need are these university officials to truly uphold these principles and in the future, demonstrate that we’re not going to be in this cycle where a speaker [is] shouted down and then [the university] apologize[s], and then months later, or years later, the same thing … happen[s] again,” Joner said. “That’s only contributing to the cycle in this culture that is destroying free speech and we need these university administrators who stand up for [freedom of speech] and stand up for it once and for all and firmly.”
