College campuses are spiraling further down the anti-Semitic rabbit hole. For many students, education has been disrupted by “pro-Palestinian” protests that have riddled American universities for the past year. For Jewish students especially, student life has been rocky. Christian, Jewish, moderate, and conservative students alike have found it intimidating to speak out or even share their views. They worry that their peers and school administrators could penalize them for not following or validating the predominant ideologies. But it’s not just the students who feel intimidated, because according to a recent survey, professors are feeling intimidated too. A new article from Faithwire says the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has released a 2024 faculty survey report to examine the state of free speech for professors working on campus. Their findings are alarming to say the least:

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“’While many faculty remain confident in higher education, and few report explicit threats or experiences of discipline for speech, the broader climate reflects that of rampant self-censorship, worry, and fear, particularly among faculty in the political minority,’ the study’s executive summary reads.

Some of the key findings underscore this warning. Thirty-five percent of faculty reported recently toning down writings for fear of sparking controversy.

And when you consider 14% stated they ‘suffered discipline or threats of discipline for either their teaching, research, academic talks, or other off-campus speech,’ these worries and moves become easier to understand.” (Read Here)

Historically speaking, it’s never been a good sign when teachers and professors felt the need to censor their views. Just look at China’s crackdown on teachers during the Cultural Revolution, where professors had to adopt a new Soviet-style education system, or face the consequences. Modern China is no different. Although today’s “cancel-culture” is nowhere near as severe, the data that this report is presenting gives a sobering reminder of why free speech needs to be recognized and protected. The article goes on to share statistics on professors’ political views in relation to their worries on freedom of speech. Unsurprisingly, conservative and moderate professors were more concerned about the potential destruction of their reputation compared to their liberal and leftist peers. Conservative professors were also shown to be three times as likely to report hiding their political beliefs to preserve their careers. Environments like these must be alleviated if we don’t want history to repeat itself. Early Americans had good reason to make the first amendment secure protections for free speech. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” In response to this we should continue to pray for a reawakening in American culture. All of America’s freedoms and liberties are built on the bedrock of our Judeo-Christian values. If the nation is to re-learn that these liberties are indispensable, it must first re-learn where they came from.

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T.K. Robinson is a student and part-time (amateur) philosopher. In his downtime, he enjoys reading, music, and chronic daydreaming. His Scripture-oriented commentary usually involves the younger generation (especially Gen Z). He wants to shed light on important current events regarding his peers and share insights from a Biblical perspective. Photo Credit: Charles DeLoye on Unsplash.