Political Clubs to Host Forum Discussing Free Speech

Exeter’s Republican Club, Exeter Political Union, Democratic Club and Daniel Webster Debate Society, will be hosting a forum to consider this very question tonight in the Academy Center forum.EPU co-head and senior Michael Shao will moderate the forum, which will feature a panel of teachers, including history instructor Michael Golay, science instructors Michael McLaughlin and Townley Chisholm and English instructor Mercedes Carbonell. For the first half hour of the forum, Shao will direct preliminary questions at the panelists. Following that, audience members and panelists will engage in an open discussion surrounding free inquiry and speech on campus.The event was conceived to address concerns about open discussion on campus, many of which were brought to light when a politics seminar presented by Fred Grandy ’66, was cancelled.

“This is a true academic environment and in order for it to be a true academic environment, we need to be able to have open discussion.”

“No doubt closing our doors to Grandy played an important role [in the conception of the forum],” McLaughlin said. “That decision is still one of the largest elephants in the room. The time is absolutely ripe for these conversations.”Republican Club co-head and senior Lily Friedberg agreed that the seminar’s cancellation, which was due to “a concern that [Grandy] had associations with people and ideas which were offensive and with which most of us at this institution disagree,” unearthed questions about freedom of speech on campus, and about “the way we culturally treat people who disagree with the liberal majority.”However, she hopes that the panelists will view the Grandy situation as one case. “We want this to be a conversation about issues and ideas more than about past events. There is more to be brought to light than just this,” Friedberg said.Peter Luff, a co-head of the Republican Club, explained that the forum will revolve less around specific topics, such as whether or not Fred Grandy should come to campus, and more around pertinent and relevant themes. He said he hopes the campus can engage in respectful and inclusive discussions surrounding these issues.Friedberg explained that Republican Club has been trying to have this discussion for a while, and that the recent stirrings on campus and on platforms such as Exeter Confesses have provided an optimal window.“Now that we’re in the spotlight, we really want to have this conversation,” she said. She noted that on the other side of the conversation, she hopes to address “how we have conversations about difficult topics, like Islamophobia, in a way that’s open to all viewpoints without contributing to the problem.”Students on campus recently have felt this concern about the suppression of free speech on campus, particularly of conservative voices.Luff said that although he has had some fantastic teachers who encouraged political debate and open discussion, “the faculty usually restrict free speech because they find it a safer option.”He said, “It is disturbing that Exonians nowadays only feel safe expressing their views in an anonymous online forum like Exeter Confesses. Some other seniors and I wanted to give students and faculty a venue where they could share their views on these important topics freely and in person.”Senior Matias Valenta felt that this panel can serve as an awakening for students. “Freedom of debate and reason has been sacrificed for an almost fascistic implementation of comfort and communitarian complacency,” he said.Valenta mentioned that certain words, if invoked in a discussion, bring the discussion to a halt, thereby impairing reasoning. “As soon as one speaks the words “offensive,” “uncomfortable” or “triggered,” all debate ends there, no reason has to be given, no proof or dialogue has to be had. It is thought and speech control,” he said.Friedberg also explained the importance of addressing an issue of “sensitivity” in discussions.“There’s a fuzzy area between being politically incorrect and being disrespectful to people, especially minorities, in this country. It is about diversity of opinion, but it is also about the diversity that we frequently discuss on campus,” Friedberg said.Friedberg described the necessity of students exiting their comfort zones to pursue important conversations.“Safe spaces are important and we should strive to make people feel safe in general, but not all places can be safe places,” she said. “This is a true academic environment and in order for it to be a true academic environment, we need to be able to have open discussion. I hope [the forum] can be a way of starting this discussion and being able to have it in a way that is respectful as possible.”Golay said he hopes to see a good turnout at the event.He said, “Academic institutions don't work well when people feel tentative or constrained about expressing their ideas, whether in class or in club meetings or in the dining hall.”He highlighted the importance of hearing a wide range of voices. “It’s especially important that people feel free to express views that go against the grain. Free speech doesn't mean much unless the protections apply to views we don't like or disagree with,” Golay said.Golay hopes that the forum will be the first of many to address speech issues. He said, “The more gatherings of this kind, the better. The more we talk, the better we understand one another.”