Political Correctness on College Campuses: Freedom of Speech v. Doing the Politically Correct Thing
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POLITICAL CORRECTNESS ON COLLEGE
CAMPUSES: FREEDOM OF SPEECH V.
DOING THE POLITICALLY CORRECT
THING
Craig B. Anderson
I. INTRODUCTION
REEDOM of speech is one of the most important rights guaranteed
to all American citizens. Set forth in the First Amendment, the Con-
stitution states Congress shall make no law ... abridging the free-
dom of speech.' One of the crucial guarantees allowing the free expression
of diverse and challenging ideas, the right to free speech is under attack at
college campuses throughout the United States. This assault comes in the
form of political correctness,2 a form of intellectual conformity marked by
enforcement through intimidation, called by some a kind of liberal Mc-
Carthyism.3 Following are just a few examples of how political correctness
manifests itself on university campuses across the country.
At Brown University, a fraternity sent out invitations for a South of the
Border party, depicting a man sleeping through a siesta under a big som-
brero.4 After a student complained that such an invitation showed insensi-
tivity to Mexicans, the Greek council banned all ethnic theme parties.5
1. U.S. CONST. amend. I.
2. One dictionary defines political correctness as an ideology marked by or adhering to
a typically progressive orthodoxy on issues involving race, gender, sexual affinity or ecology.
Random House Webster's College Dictionary 1050 (1991).
3. Michael Kilian, Warning on Political Correctness, CHI. TRIB., July 31, 1991, at 4.
Lynee Cheney, head of the National Endowment for the Humanities has charged that the
nation's colleges are falling victim to a liberal McCarthyism in which the political correctness
of curricula and teaching is used to advance social agendas and political causes. Id. Ameri-
can Civil Liberties Union Director Morton Halperin has commented that he could find no
cases where universities discipline students for views or opinions on the Left, or for racist
comments against non-minorities. Chester Finn, The Campus: An Island of Repression in a
Sea of Freedom, COMMENTARY, Sept. 1989, at 17, 21. [Iun the name of toleration and
diversity, American universities are becoming intolerant, unscholarly and undiverse. Firing
Line Debate, Resolved: Freedom of Thought is in Danger on American Campuses 1 (August
28, 1991) [hereinafter Firing Line Debate] (statement of Michael Kinsley of the New Republic
magazine).
4. Suzanne Fields, Stalked by the SSSP, WASHINGTON TIMES, Nov. 15, 1990, at GI.
5. Id.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/smulr46&div=17&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Political Correctness on College Campuses: Freedom of Speech v. Doing the Politically Correct Thing
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