Since the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, anti-Semitism has spiked across America. Colleges across the country are criticized for their response to anti-Semitism and in response, the right to free speech is heavily debated across academia.
Following the October 7th attacks in Israel, violent protests leading to student arrests are happening on college campuses, and the right to free speech has come into question. College leadership has failed to denounce the anti-Semitism happening under their jurisdiction, and universities are losing major donors.
Alumni from the University of Pennsylvania created the Penn Alumni Free Speech Alliance, a group dedicated to promoting freedom of speech and civil discourse. The group recently hosted Penn alum Dr. Victoria Coates, Heritage Foundation Vice President for the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, for an alumni interview.
The event, held on Penn’s campus, had additional security due to the topic of the event and anti-Israel protests moving through the city of Philadelphia at the same time.
Event organizers even had to charge participants for the event and issue a refund at its conclusion to those who attended. Individuals who disagree with the speaker being invited to campus tend to register with no intent to attend so the registration cap is reached and the event loses participants.
During her remarks, Dr. Coates noted that she feels as if free speech at Penn is no longer free. She discussed the anti-Semitism happening on campuses across the nation, explaining it as a “domestic product triggered by events abroad”.
Dr. Coates expressed that the right to free speech being selectively applied across college campuses should be alarming to those who support academia.
The problem is not unique to the University of Pennsylvania. The University of Southern California canceled its main commencement ceremony this week due to security concerns. Students at Columbia University staged an encampment for more than a week and demanded the university cut ties with Israel. Jewish students at countless colleges no longer feel safe.
Protests at major universities are gaining momentum, and protesters refuse to entertain the opposing school of thought. Whether university leadership increases efforts to protect Jewish students and the right to free speech remains to be seen.
