Commentary
Western universities once supported a form of liberalism that invited people to dispassionately examine established conventions, consider sound sources of evidence, entertain different ideas, and participate openly in civil conversations.
From America’s First Amendment to the 1949 “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” emerging democracies have sought to assure citizens the right to freedom of speech. Article 19 of the UN Declaration said: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
In bygone eras, venerable academic societies, such as the Cambridge Union, attracted scores of members to various forums for public discourse and the free exchange of ideas. In Canada and the United States, shared cultural traditions encouraged scholars to examine ideas from all corners of public and academic life….