Dartblog

It happens, because of an acquaintance of mine, that I am something of a student of the internecine politics of Tufts University, the exponent of which is the university’s dreadful reputation on freedom of speech. If one is a Tufts student, and one holds unpopular views, one’s speech is by dint of established policy circumscribed by the whims of any fellow “Jumbo” who comes across your writing and decides to become offended. And the consequences are quite serious. Two years ago a sincere effort at killing The Primary Source, Tufts’s right-of-center biweekly, was made over an impudent mock Christmas carol published in its pages. (It appears that the disposition of the case was a happy one, as the decision banning the Primary Source from doing unsigned editorials was later reversed. But Tufts President Larry Bacow continues to dissemble, claiming that he was always against censoring the conservative publication—thought the record proves otherwise—and even coaxing a commencement speaker to endorse his abhorrent record on freedom-of-speech.)

This is all by way of saying: there are skylarkings, yes, going on in Medford, Mass., and you might do well to follow them via a new blog called The Tufts Review, just commended to me by e-mail. Have a look.