Obviously, we've spent a pretty good amount of time around here talking about the assault
on free speech on college campuses.
As I've said before, I believe this strike against free speech to be one of the biggest
problems we face today as we are breeding a generation of young people who won't be
equipped to use logic and reason in their own arguments when they graduate to the real
working world.
The university's misguided use of safe spaces and trigger warnings, coupled with violent
protests and deplatforming or shouting down speakers is actually robbing many of these
students of literally the most important thing they can learn in college...the ability to
think for themselves.
Instead of graduating as fully equipped adults ready to fight for what they believe in because
they know what they believe in they are being coddled like children who might crumble at
the mere hearing of an idea that challenges them.
This inability to debate ideas is leaking out of the universities and into society at
large.
Celebrities spend all day on Twitter ranting and raving about topics they don't understand
at all.
Comedians, some of whom I know personally and really like, have become the screeching
lunatics they're supposed to make fun of.
Politicians talk a lot but don't actually do a lot, and the rest of us are left here
trying to make some sense of what's going on.
A great example of this is the Title 9 fiasco which took root on college campuses over the
past few years.
Title 9 is part of the Education Act of 1972 which states that "No person in the United
States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits
of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving
Federal financial assistance."
That sounds pretty good right?
What we should be going for here is an even playing field of equal opportunity.
Title 9 doesn't guarantee equal outcome, which is where hard work, perseverance and sometimes
luck comes into play, but it does guarantee that whether you're a man or a woman, you
won't be discriminated based on your sex.
This straight forward law of equal opportunity changed under the Obama administration when
in 2011 and 2014 he issued new guidelines on how schools should deal with cases of sexual
assault on campus.
While I believe Obama's intentions were good, the law in effect circumvented our system
of due process.
The Obama administration's policy used the preponderance of evidence standard in cases
of sexual assault— not the beyond reasonable doubt standard — which reduces the burden
of proof on anyone accused of sexual assault.
This was a subtle but powerful change in how we litigate these cases of sexual assault
on campus and some would argue an outright violation of the accused's constitutional
rights.
Betsey DeVos, Trump's Education Secretary, recently rescinded these Obama mandates, and,
judging by the celebrity and comedian critics out there, Trump and Devos were not only anti
woman, but suddenly pro rape as well.
Christina Hoff Sommers wrote an excellent piece in the Journal of Higher Education explaining
why removing the Obama guidelines was actually a win for due process and the constitution,
an article I shared with some of the famous people I saw ranting about Trump's pro-rape
policy.
Of course nobody responded.
We'll link to Christina's article below for you to read for yourself.
To unpack Title 9 I'll be talking to author and Professor Laura Kipnis today, as we unpack
her own story of how Title 9 has affected her both personally and professionally.
Laura has been in right in the middle of the Title 9 firestorm and our friends at Learn
Liberty have sent her our way this week.
Knowing what you're talking about is a lot harder than just screaming about how you feel
about something, but a good education taught me it's worth the effort...