Over the past two-and-a-half years, New College of Florida has turned itself into a bastion of free speech. Yet our critics – including disgruntled alumni – revel in recycling the same tired tropes insisting otherwise.
It’s time to set the record straight.
Last month, Alan Dershowitz headlined one of our Socratic Stage dialogues and served as our commencement speaker.
After 50-plus years as a Harvard Law professor, free speech absolutist, unabashed liberal Democrat and feted speaker, Dershowitz has more recently found himself cancelled for being an outspoken Zionist and expressing mixed feelings about President Donald Trump.
We were proud to provide a forum for these deeply mainstream views that our more prestigious competitors now shun.
In fact, last summer we hosted an entire day of prominent-but-canceled voices discussing the challenge of censorship presented as “defense against misinformation.”
In another of our Socratic Stage dialogues, Professor Stanley Fish interviewed Dr. Judith Butler about gender theory – a controversial topic on campus given our termination of the once-popular Gender Studies program.
Professor Bruce Gilley was displeased with the way Fish conducted the interview with Butler, and also with how Fish handled the audience segment of the discussion.
Afterward, Gilley took his critique public.
Fish and Gilley are both Presidential Scholars in Residence at New College. In fact, New College President Richard Corcoran recruited both personally (and by way of full disclosure, I consider myself fortunate to consider both personal friends).
Given Gilley’s public critique of a colleague at New College, it’s hard to think of a clearer demonstration of an academic institution openly embracing multiple perspectives.
We treasure, value free speech
But Butler is hardly our only scheduled speaker to provoke controversy.
Critics have hit us hard for what they consider poor vetting and poor timing.
Perhaps. Appropriate vetting is critical to any civil forum.
Yet the greater the value you place on free speech, the more likely you are to err on the side of openness. Tightly censorious regimes excel at blocking voices they dislike.
That’s not us. That’s not freedom.
When we hosted Tom Homan, Chad Wolf, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, we drew protestors. While I doubt that anyone truly “welcomes” such protestors, we recognize that peaceful, non-confrontational protests are an important part of the free speech terrain.
The protestors behaved; we let their voices be heard.
Our relationship with FIRE
Critics question our relationship with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a group focused on campus free speech.
As the point person President Corcoran tasked with investigating the ranking and ratings organizations, I can speak to this personally.
FIRE provides two analytic systems – a ranking and a rating.
Its rankings, in which Harvard University famously landed dead last, draw upon detailed surveys.
But FIRE has acknowledged that its ranking methods work well only on large campuses – a campus that can’t generate enough responses can’t provide meaningful data and thus can’t enter FIRE’s rankings.
And that’s precisely why New College is unranked by FIRE: we’re too small to qualify.
Regarding FIRE’s rating system, our critics have noted that earlier this year FIRE gave us a “yellow light” rating for welcoming free speech.
But that yellow light rating predates the current leadership at New College of Florida – it stemmed from the wording of some old student conduct codes that we have since improved.
We expect FIRE to green-light us in its next speech code update.
Misplaced critiques on personnel moves
Critiques stemming from personnel moves in 2023 are similarly misplaced.
New leadership arriving in any organization and announcing a revitalized mission has an obligation to follow through.
At a college committed to free speech, faculty members who voice disagreement are welcome contributors. However, faculty and staff who announce a desire to undermine the mission are not.
Even within that context, of course, some hiring and firing decisions may raise legitimate questions.
But so what? Demanding perfection in Human Resources is a rather exacting standard to which no other organization is held.
Rufo deserves right to free speech, too
Many New College of Florida critics harbor a particular distaste for one of our board trustees, Chris Rufo.
But Rufo rarely if ever speaks on behalf of New College. He’s an outspoken scholar, journalist and activist whose style tends toward effectiveness rather than diplomacy.
If that ruffles some feathers, so be it. Our commitment to free speech cheers Rufo’s freedom to express himself in whatever terms work for him.
New College a ‘Christian college’? That’s nonsense
Perhaps the most nonsensical notion of all, however, is that we’re somehow trying to turn a public institution into a Christian college.
As a deeply committed Jew and the administrator who helped return Hillel to campus with the full backing of New College’s current leadership – following its departure under prior leadership at the school – I would note that Alan Dershowitz is hardly a Christian poster child.
The overwhelming majority of America’s private colleges were founded as religious institutions.
Over the centuries, many have drifted from those roots.
However, in today’s higher education terrain those that retained their religious connections have done far better at preserving the integrity of the curriculum than have their mainstream competitors.
If you can’t tell the difference between trying to emulate things that Christian colleges do well and committing to doctrinal Christianity, your education might need a refresher. I’d recommend New College of Florida, where free speech, civil discourse and critical thinking all flourish.
Bruce Abramson is the executive director of graduate applied data science, recruiting, admissions and Internships at New College of Florida.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Free speech has a home at New College of Florida. Here’s how we’ve built it. | Opinion
Reporting by Bruce Abramson Guest columnist / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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