NY Times columnist Pamela Paul participated in a weekend conference focused on open debate at Stanford last month. Her last column was about one topic that was discussed at the conference: DEI hiring statements. Today, Paul is back with another column based on the same conference. This time around the topic is university position statements, i.e. those partisan statements put out at the behest of progressive students which align the university with a specific view of a hot-button issue in the news. For instance, a lot of universities and even some city councils have put out statements in the last few months supporting the Palestinians and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Paul argues these position statements are doing far more harm than good, fundamentally undermining the bargain American taxpayers have had with universities for many decades.
“Academic freedom allows us to…
