Dangerous to American civility ... liberal arts colleges - Buffalo Chronicle article

 ABRAMS: New England liberal arts colleges are dangerous to American civility (buffalochronicle.com)

BY SAMUEL J. ABRAMS

With their leafy campuses, visually diverse student bodies, well-stocked libraries, and attentive professors, small liberal arts colleges across New England, the Mid Atlantic, and Midwest are often considered archetypes of the ideal college experience.

While this idyllic vision of a liberal arts education may be appeal to many, families and potential students should take note: Students at these liberal arts colleges are the most repressive when it comes to issues of free speech. New data makes it unquestionably clear that geography matters and students enrolled in liberal arts schools on the East Coast and along the northern borders are leading the way in attempts to limit speech.

Data from a just-released survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) captures the voices of over 37,000 students at 159 colleges and provides unique empirical insight into issues of speech and viewpoint diversity on campus today. The results are quite disturbing.

When asked about the acceptability of shouting down a speaker or trying to prevent a guest from sharing potentially divisive, thought-provoking, or even upsetting views on campus, the national picture is underwhelming. Although campuses are the supposed to be spaces of ideas and debate, students feel otherwise: One third (33 percent) of students nationwide state that shouting down speakers or preventing them from speaking is either always or sometimes acceptable, and another third (33 percent) say that it is rarely, but nonetheless, acceptable. [ read full article and share]