For the editor:

Re “Self-censorship is suffocating campuses”, by Emma Camp (opinion guest essay, March 9):

I applaud Ms. Camp’s essay on the state of intellectual freedom (or lack thereof) on college campuses in this country.

She criticizes with precision and insight the growing tendency of academia to promote and enforce an inflexible social ideology that intimidates any student or professor who does not adopt it.

Colleges and universities, instead of being a fertile environment in which to question, learn and grow, now teach our children to be intolerant and judgmental, and to humiliate anyone who might disagree with the “official” perspective. “. And if you happen to be a teacher who challenges this dogma, you face disgrace or even dismissal.

It is a sad situation when our “higher learning” institutions embrace such a biased and derogatory environment that their students feel the need to censor their own thoughts and expressions on campus.

Fanaticism serves no one, no matter where you are on the political spectrum.

John M. Singer
Portsmouth, NH

For the editor:

I am immensely grateful to Emma Camp for voicing an unpopular opinion that must necessarily be entertained (cautiously, on the sly) by countless undergraduate and graduate students. The pressure to bow to the majority opinion has indeed become increasingly heavy.

We may well fear for the state of boundless, undiluted intellectualism in America. Not only self-censorship, but also censorship from outside – coercion, intimidation and silence – threaten to transform our once eclectic nation into a lukewarm and homogeneous whole.

I implore my classmates to behave boldly and courageously in the face of this ever more frightening prospect. Don’t allow your quirky and pungent ideas and opinions to be dismissed out of hand; when enough iconoclasts bravely stand together, the tyranny of the majority loses power. We are tired of hearing the same hyperbolic points of view reiterated and reiterated until nausea.

Together, let’s try to restore the balance and restore reason and open-mindedness to our fellow citizens.

Donna Sander
new York
The writer is a junior at Columbia University.

For the editor:

I welcome Emma Camp’s advocacy for free speech, but it’s important to remember that pressures to censor come from the political right as well as the left.

As Florida lawmakers pass a bill banning the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade, teachers and even young children will find they need to remove the expression of any comments that offend conservative orthodoxy.

This leads to the stifling of alternative viewpoints, producing what public opinion scholars call a spiral of silence, a phenomenon in which people, fearing isolation or ostracism, refuse to offer unpopular but legitimate, ranging from conservative political perspectives in University of Virginia classrooms to gender. diversity in Florida elementary schools.

The ensuing silence and self-censorship clash with the assertion of freedom of expression and tolerance based on the Enlightenment that animated our greatest social philosophers.

As John Stuart Mill wrote of the problems associated with the self-censorship of opinion: “If opinion is right, [people] deprived of the possibility of exchanging error for truth: if they are wrong, they lose, and almost as great an advantage, the clearer perception and more vivid impression of truth produced by its collision with error.

Richard M. Perloff
Cleveland
The writer, professor of communication and political science at Cleveland State University, is the author of “The Dynamics of Political Communication”.

For the editor:

Emma Camp describes experiencing a change in the behavior of other students when she raised issues that were not appreciated. I hope that in such a situation, the teacher would say something like, “I notice some discomfort with Mrs. Camp’s position. Could any of you answer. Go on. Speak !

Then the teacher should alternate between the sides, commenting where appropriate to bring out the lessons to be learned. I hope for a parallel reaction from the president and deans with the faculty in times of dissent.

The student newspaper could help by publishing both sides: the pros on one side of the page and the cons on the other. It is the faculty’s responsibility to keep the college safe for debate by encouraging and monitoring the process to keep discussions flowing and non-destructive.

Beth Barthelemy
Seattle

For the editor:

To encourage free speech on campus, colleges should expand their existing prohibitions on harassment based on race, gender, etc. to prohibit all harassment, including that based on politics and ideology.

Too many people on and off campus seem to think they can make the world a better place by harassing people who disagree with them.

James G. Russell
Midlothian, Virginia.

For the editor:

As a lifelong professor of argument and debate, I agree with Emma Camp’s frustration but I disagree with the causes. Debate does not come naturally; it is something that we have to practice and learn.

Human beings argue as a form of communication, but it has a very personal meaning. The debate is for people we don’t know. We can enjoy a beautiful picture with others, but painting it and hanging it in front of a crowd is another matter.

Universities across the United States have failed in their obligation to teach debate, which is as important as STEM in creating the thoughtful, intelligent people who will soon rule the world. Debating should be a general education requirement, as Ms. Camp aptly proves.

Stephen M. Llano
queens
The author is Associate Professor of Rhetoric in the Department of Communication Studies at St. John’s University.

For the editor:

Emma Camp provides a clear description of a consequence of the recent “culture wars” and the passage of anti-revival legislation in several states, including my own.

What is also evident is that some professors lack the skills to lead conversations that give all students space to express their views. Such classroom interaction is how we help students become analytical thinkers, develop an appreciation for diverse perspectives, and understand the complexity of so many issues.

Instead of letting students “pile” on one student and triggering self-censorship, educators at all levels need to give students the opportunity to carefully consider alternative ideas and possible explanations for them. This is how we learn, mature and become effective decision makers.

Jill Lewis Spector
Sarasota, Florida.
The author is professor emeritus of literacy at New Jersey City University and past president of the International Literacy Association.

For the editor:

I am a retired college professor and Christian social conservative who values ​​free speech and civil discourse. Emma Camp’s article speaks to both my head and my heart as she presents a defense of free speech on college campuses.

Although Ms. Camp and I are probably at odds politically, I believe that she and I could discuss controversial issues and each learn from our exchanges. His discussion of self-censorship by students and faculty touches me; college administrators must ensure that no one on campus should adhere to a particular ideology for fear of reprisal.

John C. Gardner
Onalaska, Wis.