A Free Speech Blog
Cornellians United for Free Speech is an advocacy group of Cornell students, faculty, staff, and alumni seeking to advance free expression, academic freedom, viewpoint diversity, and due process. We track developments on campus as well as national trends.
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Cornell needs fundamental fairness when it proposes to regulate or sanction conduct. While individual cases should not be subject to mob justice, there must be much more transparency in these processes to assure that they are administered in a manner that achieves fair results.
Although one would assume that an Ivy League school would offer its faculty an ivory tower, Cornell, and all other universities, are a part of broader society. Vigilance is required to protect the freedom of instructors to teach and for academia to seek the truth.
Cornell lists “free expression” as one of its core values. While Cornell’s leadership may value free expression, remaining true to this value can be a challenge when it conflicts with other university objectives, such as preventing harassment.
Academia’s search for the truth requires a contest between competing ideas. In the recent past, “cancel culture” has encouraged people to conform and to self-censor out views that conflict with the conventional wisdom.