Mayhem at Middlebury College
Background
Middlebury, Vermont, March 2017
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The Incident and Its Aftermath
Hundreds of Middlebury students protest speaker
This video, from the Burlington, Vermont NBC affiliate, provides an initial overview of the events and includes student and community perspectives on Murray’s speech.Protesters Disrupt Speech by ‘Bell Curve’ Author at Vermont College
The New York TimesAllison Stanger’s Facebook post
Understanding the Angry Mob at Middlebury That Gave Me a Concussion
The New York TimesMore Sanctions (and Debate) at Middlebury
Inside Higher EducationCharles Murray speaks at Columbia, with support of nearly 150 faculty members
USA Today, CollegeCharles Murray Event Draws Protest
The Harvard CrimsonThe Real Problem with Charles Murray and ‘The Bell Curve’
Scientific American
Similar Incidents on the Free Speech Tracker
Students in Pennsylvania protest speaker, engage respectfully during Q&A period — March 2017
Student protesters in California block conservative speaker from entering building — April 2017
Death threats cancel commencement address at University of California, San Diego — June 2017
Jesuit priest disinvited from university in DC due to pro-LGBTQ beliefs — September 2017
Law students at Lewis & Clark College interrupt appearance by Christina Hoff Summers — March 2018
Middlebury College cancels scheduled lecture by Polish philosopher/politician and planned protest, amid safety concerns — May 2019
Protesters shout down then-Acting Homeland Security Secretary at Georgetown Law — October 2019
Georgia college students protest author’s message by burning books — October 2019
Kennesaw State students object to speaker at Martin Luther King Jr. holiday event — January 2020
University of British Columbia sued for canceling talk by U.S. journalist — January 2020
Gun rights activist forced off Ohio University campus by protesters — February 2020
The Role of Free Speech
Free Speech Controversy Erupts at Middlebury College
WBURA Violent Attack on Free Speech at Middlebury
The AtlanticMiddlebury: Who Pays for Free Speech?
The NationThe Right Way to Protect Free Speech on Campus
The Wall Street Journal
Point / Counterpoint
What is the role of discipline in this case? What was Middlebury, as an institution, claiming to support? What are the principles behind the faculty and student point of view?
An Initial Statement of Our Principles
The Middlebury CampusOpen Letter to President Patton
The Middlebury CampusMiddlebury, My Divided Campus
The New York TimesA Painful Lesson
The New CriterionThe Myth of the ‘Marketplace of Ideas’ on Campus
The New Republic
Two Later Incidents at Middlebury College
Discussion Questions
- What really went wrong at Middlebury College on March 2, 2017? Could the college faculty and administration have handled Murray’s visit differently? What was the underlying cause of the unseemly violence, and how could it have been avoided?
- On the same night, a controversial and contested speaker appeared at another small liberal arts institution, Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Why did that visit go more smoothly?
- How are we to understand the similar incidents, documented in the Free Speech Tracker, at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California? Could the students at these schools have achieved their goals more effectively using different tactics?
- The conventional wisdom is that such disruptions almost always involve a liberal shutdown of conservative speech. But there are two examples here of just the opposite. Is it equally offensive that a Jesuit speaker was prevented from talking at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., because of his views? And that a Princeton professor’s commencement address at the University of California, San Diego, had to be canceled after she received death threats when her comments at Hampshire College in Massachusetts were circulated in cell phone videos?
- How can U.S. colleges and universities restore civility to such conversations?
Activity
Click on these themes below: Violence/Threats + Hate Speech + Identity
Discuss: What does this confluence of stories with these filters tell us about Free Speech issues and race in the United States? Free Speech and violence?