Free speech advocates have been voicing concerns over the impact of political correctness on college campuses. They say it’s inhibiting discussions of race and other important issues. We talk with an MSU College of Law professor Adam Candeub about the issue.
College campuses across the country are having a vigorous, sometimes angry debate pitting cultural sensitivity against free speech. One of the most publicized recent examples involved an intense encounter triggered by Halloween. At Yale University, a group of students publicly called for greater awareness of culturally insensitive costumes. A storm erupted when an administrator explained her hesitation to get involved, saying, in part, that “free speech and the ability to tolerate offense are the hallmarks of a free and open society.”
So, is a stricter standard involving ethnic sensitivity infringing on free speech?
Current State talks with Adam Candeum, a professor at the MSU College of Law, where he is the director of the intellectual property information and communications law program. He has watched the argument unfold both nationally and here on the MSU campus.