Free Speech and Liberal Education: A Plea for Intellectual Diversity and Tolerance

The status of free speech and academic freedom in the nation’s colleges and universities has become an explosive issue. Reports of disruptions and dis‐​invitations of speakers and a host of new speech‐​inhibiting policies instituted by campus bureaucracies are now commonplace. Critics claim that these actions and measures have smothered the open and honest discourse inside and outside of the classroom that is so necessary for a meaningful and vibrant education to take place. Others consider the fears of crisis overblown, discerning the harms as less extensive in the vast domain of higher education than critics acknowledge. Drawing on his extensive research, teaching, and practical experience as a free speech and academic freedom leader at the University of Wisconsin‐​Madison and nation‐​wide, Donald A. Downs portrays the university as an “intellectual polis” in which free and honest academic discourse should pervade the campus. His unique approach addresses the experiential, empirical,