“In Unlearning Liberty, author Greg Lukianoff describes a perfect storm of highly-tuned cultural sensitivity, bureaucratic bloat, and fear of litigation that has created a stultifying atmosphere on campuses nationwide where unpopular ideas and offensive language are policed to an absurd extent.”
—Time
“Beautifully written and powerfully argued … an essential wake-up call!”
—Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law, New York Law School,
former president of the American Civil Liberties Union (1991–2008)
“Unlearning Liberty is the most important book you can read … The very future of our society depends upon recognizing and reversing the insidious process that is its subject.”
—Psychology Today
“Destined to be a classic work on freedom in America.”
—Donald Downs, Professor of Political Science, Law, and Journalism,
University of Wisconsin–Madison, author of
Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus
“Lukianoff is an engaging exposer of the shocking repression of free speech on campus, combining good storytelling with clear principles and a serious purpose with a light touch.”
—Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology,
Harvard University, author of The Blank Slate and The Better Angels of Our Nature
“[A] stirring take on higher education as an unrestricted intellectual journey [that] remains free of the bile common to culture war screeds ….”
—Publishers Weekly
“It is refreshingly rare to find a commentator who will unflinchingly support freedom of expression whether politically correct or incorrect … Lukianoff demonstrates that campus censorship betrays civil liberties, undermines democratic values, disserves open debate and limits educational effectiveness.”
—The Jerusalem Post
“As a window on the cowed conformism of America’s higher-education institutions, places in which freedom of speech is now held in historically low esteem, Unlearning Liberty is indispensable.”
—Spiked
“Unlearning Liberty is a must-read book for anyone concerned about the constitutional future of our nation.”
—Nat Hentoff, journalist, author of Free Speech for Me—But Not for Thee
“Lukianoff and FIRE do tremendous work in fighting for free speech on campus. But outside the courtroom, perhaps the main takeaway from Unlearning Liberty is that Americans should not hold universities, including elite ones, in such high esteem.”
—National Review
“Greg presents a disturbingly persuasive case that the philosophy of the American classroom today is intolerant of dissent and accepting of all sorts of censorship.”
—Ken White, founder and contributor at Popehat.com
“Unlearning Liberty is not just another rehash of the campus free speech wars. It is eloquently written from a voice of genuine experience, and it maintains a healthy sense of humor.”
—Minding the Campus
“Lukianoff’s passionate and principled defense of liberty of thought and discussion is all the more compelling coming from a self-proclaimed liberal atheist whose book cheerfully evinces a fondness for popular culture, progressive causes, and Buddhism.”
—Peter Berkowitz, Senior Fellow at the
Hoover Institution, Stanford University
“[A]n impassioned plea for robust, unrestrained speech in higher education.”
—Metro Newspapers
“Individual freedom is sometimes valued less, especially on campus, than diversity and the psychic as well as physical security of presumptively disadvantaged groups. FIRE President Greg Lukianoff reports on the lamentable consequences of this values shift in his important new book, Unlearning Liberty.”
—Wendy Kaminer, author, lawyer, and civil libertarian,
author of I’m Dysfunctional, You’re Dysfunctional
© 2014 by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
Afterword © 2014 by Greg Lukianoff
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Encounter Books, 900 Broadway, Suite 601, New York, New York, 10003.
First American edition published in 2012 by Encounter Books, an activity of Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc., a nonprofit, tax exempt corporation. Encounter Books website address: www.encounterbooks.com
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGUED
THE HARDCOVER EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Lukianoff, Greg.
Unlearning liberty : campus censorship
and the end of American debate / by Greg Lukianoff.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59403-733-7 (ebook)
1. Academic freedom—United States. 2. Teaching, Freedom of—United States. 3. Freedom of speech—United States. 4. College students—Civil rights—United States. 5. Universities and colleges—Law and legislation—United States. 6. Education, Higher—Moral and ethical aspects—United States. I. Title.
KF4242.L85 2012
378.1’2130973—dc23
2012017076
For Michelle
Contents
Campus Censorship: Alive and Thriving ~ How Campus Censorship Harms Us All ~ Beginning Our Journey through the Modern College Experience
Learning All the Wrong Lessons in High School
High Schools and Unlearning Liberty ~ “Seriously, Why Is Free Speech Important Again?” ~ The Legal Landscape ~ Beyond the Law: The Grand Philosophy behind Free Speech ~ Polarization,