UC Berkeley. Middlebury College. University of Chicago. Controversial speakers and their opponents have entangled campuses across the country in fraught, sometimes violent clashes. When speakers with provocative – or biased – points of view come knocking, should universities welcome them and safeguard their right to speak?
Constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley Law at the University of California, argues that institutions of higher learning must find a way to create supportive academic environments for all students while also upholding free speech, even for speakers who espouse hateful ideologies. Co-author of the book “Free Speech on Campus,” Chemerinsky brings a reasoned, scholarly perspective to a polarizing topic that has divided university campuses and the country.