Don’t Learn the Wrong Lesson

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill has resigned. So too has the head of the Board of Trustees. Magill resigned after her comments before a congressional committee. She decided calling for genocide may or may not be against university policy depending on context.

As many commentators have noted, she is actually right. Saying generally “all Jews must die” is offensive speech, but not targeted harassment. Saying, to a person, “you, Jew, must die,” is harassment that violates the University of Pennsylvania’s bullying and harassment policy.

But there is a problem.

While technically Magill is right about the context, in practice, Magill and the University of Pennsylvania have given broad application to policies of harassment and bullying to protect favored classes of students. So “all Jews must die” is free speech, but “all transgenders must die” is considered specific, targeted harassment.

Penn, Harvard, MIT, and others have been very selective in their application of speech. Favored groups get broad protection from harassment and unfavored groups get tight restrictions on what they can say and do. Fat shaming and “cisheteronormative” talk are verboten. Killing Jews is fine.

On top of that, Jewish students have faced specific harassment that the universities have turned a blind eye to because much of it comes from minority students. Because the universities see everything through a race based oppressor v oppressed lens, a light skin Jew being specifically harassed by a darker skin student is permitted.

It is a bizarre racism.

The universities must not conclude that more restrictions on speech are needed. In fact, what is needed, is for the universities to facilitate free speech and stop picking sides. What is good for one group, must be good for another.

It is why these universities need to kill their DEI offices and programs and stop picking and choosing preferred speech, causes, and minorities. Critical theory has poisoned brains and rotted institutions. Like the Marxism from which it is derived, it needs to be placed on the ash heap of history. But I’m afraid the universities will learn the wrong lesson unless donors keep up the pressure.