This report delves into a critical topic from the Athens Democracy Forum, presented in collaboration with The New York Times.
From Europe to Asia and across the United States, university campuses are becoming hotbeds of contention over free speech. Students are actively silencing voices they disagree with, leading to cancelled events. Simultaneously, some university leaders and faculty members are limiting diverse viewpoints in curricula, often under the guise of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) initiatives.
These demonstrations, whether opposing Israel or expressing various political beliefs, have at times escalated into violence and even campus building occupations. A notable example occurred in February 2024 at the University of California, Berkeley, where a private event featuring an Israeli speaker was abruptly halted. Approximately 200 pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded the venue, chanting slogans, shattering windows, and ultimately breaching the building.
Such clashes have left universities struggling to define the boundary between free speech and repression, often leading to government intervention. For instance, in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban compelled Central European University, an institution founded by liberal philanthropist George Soros, to relocate to Austria. Orban also placed 11 other universities under the control of foundations led by his political allies.
In India, supporters of the right-wing governing party have been appointed as administrators at Jawaharlal Nehru University, a traditionally liberal institution.
In the United States, President Donald J. Trump and his administration are leveraging campus conflicts to push for the dismantling of university D.E.I. programs and to combat what they perceive as widespread antisemitism. They have suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for university research, citing concerns over “woke” viewpoints.
Similarly, in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has replaced board members and administrators at the University of Florida, the state’s most prestigious university. He also overhauled the governance and admissions at New College, a public liberal arts school, to counteract policies he characterized as biased and leftist.
This growing standoff between governments and higher education institutions is slated to be a central discussion point at the Athens Democracy Forum, an annual gathering of policymakers, business leaders, academics, and activists held in Greece in association with The New York Times.
Conference panelists will specifically address the situations in Hungary and India, alongside other examples of government-university clashes over free speech issues.
The critical question remains: how should a democracy prevent its campuses from transforming into political battlegrounds?
Many academics and free-speech advocates contend that the problem—and its solution—lies within higher education itself.
“Universities are often ideologically uniform and resistant to viewpoint diversity,” observed Thomas Gift, an American associate professor of political science at University College London, who also teaches at Harvard University each summer.
Gift acknowledged that the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion are important, even to him, but argued that the implementation of D.E.I. programs in U.S. universities often fosters all forms of diversity except intellectual viewpoint diversity.
“Conservative and even moderate voices have been either silenced or individuals have felt compelled to self-censor,” he explained, noting that professors often find it safer to avoid politically sensitive topics rather than risk being reported to the administration by a student.
“Reform is indeed necessary,” he stated.
Critics also highlight the inconsistency of universities in upholding freedom of expression.
Greg Lukianoff, a lawyer, author, and activist leading FIRE — the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression — shared that his 24-year career has been dedicated to “sounding the alarm for free speech issues coming from higher education,” and he found it incredibly difficult to be taken seriously.
Referring to recent trends, he noted that 2023 and 2024 saw the highest number of “shout-downs” on campus, meaning situations where students actively prevented a speech from proceeding, rather than simply heckling.
Other incidents documented by his organization include: demands by a university student for “The Great Gatsby” to be accompanied by a trigger warning (because of its suicide and domestic violence content); a student being prevented from distributing copies of the U.S. Constitution on Constitution Day; and the disinviting by universities of commencement speakers such as the former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the then-International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
Faculty members at leading U.S. universities acknowledge that their institutions are in need of reform, with some actively campaigning for it.
Hélène Landemore, a French-born Yale political science professor and upcoming speaker at the Athens Democracy Forum, criticized the “total lack of transparency and, in my view, accountability” within the Yale administration. She described it as “a corporate style of governance that prioritizes branding, risk management, donor relations and all of these things over academic freedom.”
She praised D.E.I. programs for expanding curriculum, admitting that her own syllabi previously featured “only dead white men.” She subsequently integrated works by sociologist W.E.B. DuBois, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and various women authors.
However, Landemore argued that D.E.I. has also led university administrations to interfere in faculty decisions and recruitment, creating slowdowns and introducing bias. This leaves faculty and students feeling “squeezed from both sides,” she added. “We’re criticized by the Trump administration as radical and woke, but internally, we’re being micromanaged and, frankly, silenced by administrative political correctness.”
Indeed, the second Trump administration is generating a fresh wave of free-speech controversies on campuses.
Last summer, a senior lecturer at Texas A&M University was teaching “Literature for Children” and discussing the differences between gender identity and gender expression. A student protested while filming herself, asserting, “I’m not entirely sure this is legal, because, according to our president, there’s only two genders.” She also stated it violated her religious beliefs and those of others, and therefore she would not participate in the course.
The video quickly spread on social media and caught the attention of Republican politicians, including the governor of Texas, who accused the university of “blatantly indoctrinating students in gender ideology” and demanded swift action. In the aftermath, the lecturer, two administrators, and even the president of Texas A&M all departed their positions.
The University of Pennsylvania has been in the eye of the storm since well before Trump’s election. Its president, Elizabeth Magill, resigned in December 2023 after a contentious congressional hearing regarding campus antisemitism, where she was questioned alongside Harvard President Claudine Gay and M.I.T. President Sally Kornbluth.
In a video interview, Magill—a law professor at Penn Carey Law School and also a speaker at the Athens Democracy Forum—stated that the Trump administration had “created what are, at least in my lifetime, unprecedented challenges for the higher education sector.” She expressed concern that some of these challenges, particularly changes to federal grant mechanisms, could prove irreversible.
She highlighted that decades-long research programs were being terminated at universities nationwide, including departments conducting vital studies in areas such as childhood cancer and early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
In summary, Lukianoff of FIRE believes the United States is currently experiencing a “free speech crisis” that shows no signs of abating soon.
“Many protections we established, both in First Amendment law and in general free-speech norms in the United States, have been disregarded,” he commented.
He concluded that the only solution is a steadfast defense of freedom of expression.
Why? “Because it’s incredibly effective,” he argued. “If you cannot discuss your problems openly, they only worsen. You encounter backlashes and eruptions. Instead of using free speech as a non-violent alternative, you often face violence.”
Gift, the University College London associate professor, proposed establishing dedicated centers for free speech and open debate on university campuses, similar to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, to ensure that underrepresented or conservative perspectives are heard.
He also suggested that universities offer a first-year course on “disagreeing well,” to equip all freshman students with the skills to respect opposing viewpoints. Gift and a colleague are currently teaching such a course in London this semester.
The course description for “Disagreeing Well” opens with a quote from Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi (“Honest disagreement is often a sign of progress”), and emphasizes that while “at its worst, disagreement can provoke war, misery and suffering,” at its best, it can foster “world-shifting innovations and peace through the vetting of truth and great ideas.”
“We are currently in a storm,” Lukianoff remarked. “But I remain hopeful that we can steer the country back towards valuing free speech, even for opinions we strongly dislike.”