Free Beacon
More than 300 students, alumni, and physicians, had petitioned to bar University of Michigan Medical School professor Dr. Kristin Collier from giving the keynote address at the school’s annual white coat ceremony. Some students walked out when she took the stage, and others hung a banner from the auditorium’s balcony that read: “Bans Off Our Bodies. Abortion Rights Now.” No one interrupted. But other students defended Collier, and Dean Marschall Runge made it clear that the school “would not revoke a speaker because they have different personal ideas than others.”
“The White Coat Ceremony is not a platform for discussion of controversial issues, and Dr. Collier never planned to address a divisive topic as part of her remarks,” Dr. Runge wrote in the email, a copy of which was shared by Princeton professor Robert George on his blog. “Our values speak about honoring the critical importance of diversity of personal thought and ideas, which is foundational to academic freedom and excellence.”
University administrators’ defense of free speech has become increasingly rare, as professors have lost their jobs or been removed from courses for voicing controversial opinions. Princeton University fired tenured classics professor Joshua Katz in May because he had failed to exercise his free speech “responsibly” on campus, the Washington Free Beacon reported. In November, faculty and students at the University of Michigan ousted a music professor from a course after he screened a film deemed racially insensitive. The university’s policy affirms a “deep commitment to freedom of speech and artistic expression.”
