Who Draws the Line for Acceptable Discourse?
Over eight years ago, when he canceled a planned speech by John Derbyshire, then-President Adam Falk wrote that the college should only...
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2 min read
Will students who graffitied college property be disciplined?
Last spring when I was in Williamstown, I saw staff from Facilities (Buildings and Grounds in many of our day) spray-blasting...
3 min read
Pro-Israel Display Vandalized on Frosh Quad
Last night, Sunday November 3, 2024, vandals scrawled anti-Semitic graffiti and vandalized a table with a display celebrating Jewish and...
7 min read
A Williams Student Considers SJP's Outlandish Ideology
A week ago today, on Sunday, May 5, 2024, as I was preparing to leave Williamstown and head home to Los Angeles, I stopped on the...
2 min read
Prof. Miller's suggested consequences for students who disrupt speakers and panels at Williams
Two weeks ago, on Friday, April 26, in an e-mail to the campus community, President Maud S. Mandel announced that after the disruption of...
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A firsthand view of encampment at Williams/President Mandel's response
“Free speech”, I read on Coleman Hughes’s Twitter feed while in Williamstown, “is never about protecting speech you agree with. It’s...
2 min read
A non-disruptive protest/A failure to engage
When Niko Malhotra ‘24, the student on our Steering Committee learned I would be in WIlliamstown this week, he invited me to attend a...
2 min read
President Mandel's Response to Disruption of Mideast Panel Sets Right Tone
Last night, Thursday, April 25, 2024, students disrupted the last of three programs on the War in Gaza and the International Context. ...
1 min read
President Mandel defends free speech, sidesteps question about events at Columbia
In an interview with WAMC Northeast Public Radio, President Maud S. Mandel was asked about the protests at Columbia University and...
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Student suggestions to improve free speech climate at Williams
In our webinar last week, we asked our student panelists what the college could do to signal institutional support for free speech. Each...
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Williams students afraid to speak out for free speech
Those removed from campus life today sometimes come to understand college life by what we see and read in the media. Since an angry...
1 min read
Webinar on Free Speech & Civil Discourse at Williams 04/10/24 @ 4 PM Eastern/Facebook group
For nearly six months now since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, Americans have been paying closer attention to colleges and...
1 min read
DEI Support of “Pinkwashing” Panel makes Adoption of Kalven Imperative
While we support the right of the Queer Student Union, along with two other student groups, to host the “Deconstructing Pinkwashing”...
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A lost opportunity to talk across differences
“Students”, I wrote, concluding my post defending their right to air all manner of opinions, “need to learn to respond to ideas, even...
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The "Pinkwashing" Panel at Williams: Free Speech Protects the Airing of All Manner of Ideas, even Contemptible Ones
Just over eight years ago, on February 28, 2016, then-President Adam Falk announced that he was cancelling a speech by John Derbyshire...
2 min read
On the Passing of Kurt Tauber
A Political Science professor who embodied the ideals of our alma mater passed yesterday, January 25, 2024. Kurt Tauber was 101. Born in...
3 min read
Campus Speaker Policy Discourages Students from Inviting Speakers
For many of us, Williams was a place where we were exposed to a great variety of ideas and perspectives, whether in the classroom, in...
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Of Free Speech, Defaced Posters, & Calls for Violence
Free speech at Williams means that students, faculty, administrators, and invited guests can speak their mind without sanction from the...
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Ideological job postings at Williams
In a recent segment on CNN, Fareed Zakaria observed American universities have been neglecting excellence in order to pursue a variety of...
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Williams Student Criticizes Israel, Defends Free Speech
Last week, in addition to publishing junior Noah Cape’s smart piece in support of Israel and in favor of open discourse, The Record also...
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