Dartblog

Wikipedia recently joined the ranks of news media used by the liberal left to distort the truth. The article in question described the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) as “keen to wage a culture war on the leftists they see at every turn”. In reality, FIRE is an organization dedicated to preserving traditional freedoms like the freedom of speech on college campuses around the country.

In defense of his organization, president Greg Lukianoff wrote, “FIRE’s experience has been that you are more likely to get in trouble on campus if you are socially conservative, make un-PC jokes, or do or say something deemed “insensitive.”…You can disagree with this assessment, you can do your best to disprove it, but if after reviewing case after case every year, you aren’t convinced that there is a problem on campus, you should ask yourself if you are honestly looking at the facts, or if you are blinded by your own ideology.”

This certainly remains true at Dartmouth. In the spring of 2006, the Dartmouth College Republicans came under fire for a poster regarding illegal immigration to which some Hispanic students took offense. At that time, two liberal professors (not much intellectual diversity there) debated illegal immigration. One of the professors accused any student who used the words “illegal immigrant” rather than “undocumented worker” of being racist. In the fall of 2006, the Native Americans at Dartmouth printed a two page advertisement in The Dartmouth, the daily student newspaper accusing students of blatant acts of racism and insensitivity. Along with these disturbing instances in which the Dartmouth administration failed to support the free speech of conservative students and overreacted to liberal senstivities, FIRE noted its concerns involving the trustee battles. FIRE supported the free speech platform offered by petition candidates T.J. Rodgers, Peter Robinson, Todd Zywicki, and Stephen Smith and lauded their elections as a victory for free speech on the Dartmouth campus. During the battle over the constitution proposed in 2006 (a constitution which thankfully, the alumni rejected), FIRE expressed dismay at the attempts to prevent further “free speech trustees” from launching successful petition campaigns.

FIRE is not, however, an organization dedicated solely to the support of conservative speech. They have defended what many would consider deplorable positions- including that of Richard Berthold, who said “Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote”. Members of all political leanings work for FIRE, and the president himself identifies as a Democrat. I have said it before, but I will say it again. Despite thinking of themeselves as open and inclusive, liberals often are the quickest to judge others and to defend restrictions of speech that they find offensive- in this case, any speech that smacks of conservatism. Until campuses are safe for students to express their views without fears of administrative reprisal, organizations like FIRE remain a critical force of support for the First Amendment. I can only hope that the “green light” given to Dartmouth by FIRE in response to the successful elections of the petition candidates and the repeal of the speech code will remain in effect. Certainly the staunch advocacy of the petition trustees for free speech has been a positive force for the College. With the upcoming Association of Alumni elections, alumni will once again have the opportunity to reject speech codes and uphold freedom on this campus. Some alumni would like you to believe that the success of petition candidates and efforts to oppose the Trustees’ board-packing plan are destroying the College. In response, I would refer you to FIRE, who called the election of the petition candidates and rejection of the 2006 constitution, “one of the most successful recent campaigns to bring liberty to our campuses”.