UNC’s Free-Expression Survey Elicits Both Fear and Hope

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | July 11, 2022 | Eric Johnson

[karpov]

North Carolina’s public universities have a problem with free expression, and it mostly doesn’t come from censorious administrators or biased faculty members. Instead, it’s the students themselves who muzzle free speech.

“Many UNC System students do indeed have significant concerns about expressing political views on campus.” So state the findings of a comprehensive, carefully designed survey from a team of researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC-Greensboro. “These concerns arise disproportionately from students who describe themselves as conservative, but they affect students of nearly all backgrounds. And contra a common narrative that liberal-leaning faculty members attempt to impose their views on the students they teach, we find that students worry about the reactions of their peers more than those of faculty.”

These findings mirror a puzzling national trend in which Americans of all ages and political persuasions are increasingly reluctant to express sincerely held beliefs. This is the case even though the legal protections for free speech have gotten stronger. The New York Times, for instance, acknowledged earlier this year that we’re facing “a crisis of confidence around one of America’s most basic values.” This hesitance to speak is driven by a fear of retaliation and of the social backlash that comes from sharing sensitive opinions.

“There’s more to free expression than policy,” UNC System president Peter Hans recently explained, speaking about the UNC survey during a Board of Governors meeting in May. “It’s also about culture. The broader culture beyond campus is creating major challenges for campus life.”

[ecomcon]

Kids are stupid. Although they are over 18 and considered adults, they are still behaving and thinking like kids; they are emotional, without real experience, and are not yet in a position to make sound judgements.

[RWGinger]

Based on all the crap conservatives take daily from Demx, pols, media and rabid keft wing groups
Conservative college students are right to ve concerned about being attacked

[cymbeline]

“Kids are stupid.”

And they are in school to learn (become less stupid) more than to express themselves.

From the article:

“Students ... want to discuss things with those who think differently ... but are thwarted by argumentative loudmouths”

That could apply all of us. Thank God for our secret-ballot elections.

[Betty Jane]

I’m listening to a book called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won’t Stop Talking. In chapter 3, the author talks about an experiment by Gregory Berns where people conform to or disagree with a group who give wrong answers. It showed, through MRI, that peer pressure actually changes brain function. The conformists had their beliefs changed. They weren’t just going along to be liked. They actually believed the wrong answer was right. The ones who stood up for the right answer, went through a fight or flight moment before stating the right answer and going against the group.

It’s a scary thought how much the left is literally changing people’s perceptions of right and wrong.

Here’s info on the study. https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/why-do-people-follow-the-crowd