Last fall, a display at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., caught my eye:
"Her body, her choice? Do you agree?"
Passersby were encouraged to place stickers under "yes" or "no" and could discuss the issue or keep walking. I ended up in an hour-long discussion with someone who had been invited to campus and who told students abortion is murder. I also eavesdropped on a few intense debates others were having. I was proud of the students who pulled the event together, demonstrating a commitment to free inquiry.
It was the work of Students for Life, a conservative group on campus. This month, another conservative group, the Davidson chapter of Young America's Foundation, is at the center of controversy after YAF national spokesman Spencer Brown appeared on "The Ingraham Angle" on the Fox News Channel. He spoke during a segment purportedly to expose "enemies of the First Amendment," free expression and free thought. Its heading: "Davidson College won't let professor speak on campus."
Brown claimed Davidson tried to deny a speaking venue to Burton Folsom of Hillsdale College. Never mind that Folsom actually did speak and that Davidson employs conservative professors and staff. Davidson has hosted conservatives such as David Brooks of the New York Times and Jonah Goldberg of The National Review, the country's most-influential conservative magazine. Not once did "snowflake" liberal students try to shut the speakers down.
Davidson has partnered with YAF and others to host speakers such as well-known conservative commentator Bay Buchanan and writer Christina Hoff Sommers. Buchanan talked about the American landscape from a conservative perspective. Sommers is a high-profile critic of feminism and #MeToo.
How does Brown square that with his claims, or with Davidson YAF's statement saying it was just a mix up, they were never told Folsom couldn't speak, and that they were happy with the final venue "in the main academic building in the center of campus"? (Davidson officials said "the college's internal communications broke down" resulting in YAF initially being given incorrect information that wasn't caught in time to secure the original venue.) Never mind those facts. Brown is sticking to assertions he made without even contacting Davidson.
"The appearance of other conservatives on campus in the past ... does not give a school a free pass to now start censoring speakers or the locations in which they're allowed to speak," Brown told me Wednesday morning.
But this isn't about Brown, who used students for a Fox appearance without letting them know what he was going to say. He seems not to know conservatives control the North Carolina legislature, the levers of power in D.C., and have the highest-rated cable news network.
I'm a Davidson graduate. I know its imperfections; squelching debate isn't among them. That was true when I was a student and true when I taught last fall, which is why no one intervened as students debated abortion on Chambers lawn.
If that changes, I'd be the first to sound the alarm, just as I criticized Davidson when it had reserved the presidency for Presbyterians despite a commitment to inclusiveness, an issue the college openly debated with vigor.
That doesn't mean it's easy to speak truth at Davidson � nor should it be. Express an opinion there, especially an unpopular one, and you are likely to be forced to defend your thinking, which can be uncomfortable. As they say, iron sharpens iron.
If YAF is serious about ensuring ideological diversity, it would remind its members about that instead of crying foul where there is none and make it clear that being able to properly deal with criticism, even the harsh variety, is not persecution. It's what helps students grow.
