The University Code (Dee Speaking)
						MAIN PATH: Malik
				Fred		Malik

Let's think about Ann's argument. She's saying that we should ban hate speech because it interferes with the purposes of this institution. Maybe, but consider this:

• She has offered no evidence that racist speech does in fact interfere with the purposes of the university. She suggests that it prevents black students from studying and learning. How do we know? That's an empirical question. Have we studied it? Have we compared black students on different campuses, some with hate speech problems and some without?
• The code covers 12 different kinds of speech. Do we really have reason to believe that all 12 interfere with the purposes of the university? Why these 12 kinds of speech? What is their special feature? Why not any of a dozen others?
• If her argument is sound, we ought to ban ANY speech that interferes with the purposes of the university, not just hate speech. Do we really want to get into that? Who is going to decide these things? Let's suppose that some hard line feminist rhetoric upsets some of the more traditional students and makes it difficult for them to do their work. Should we ban it? I know Ann doesn't believe we should, and Vera would flip out completely. Are we really just picking out the speech we don't like and banning it?
• What about academic freedom. Her argument would allow us to ban what instructors say in their classes if it sufficiently upsets some of the students. Consider a left wing instructor who constantly criticizes our economic system or American foreign policy. Maybe this upsets some students. Perhaps there are veterans in the class who find it very hard to take. Maybe it upsets them enough that they find it difficult to attend classes and do their work. Should we ban it? Who decides?

My main point is that a code like this, if justified by the argument Ann is making, should not be selective. But if it is not to be selective, we might have to ban a great deal. Ironically, the purposes of the university might end up being undermined more by such a code than by the hate speech we are concerned about.

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