Thoroughly researched, written with an obvious personal intrigue and decidedly pertinent to all those who reside within the world of academia, “Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus” is a powerful examination of the ongoing fight against tyranny at America’s universities. A central player in the fight for free speech at the University of Wisconsin, Donald Downs scribes this book with an unparalleled personal appreciation and knowledge of the struggle to which he has dedicated so much of his professional life. Indeed, the author’s ethos, in combination with remarkably intricate research and a knack for the inclusion of details without entering the realms of boredom, make “Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus” a veritable must-read for students, professors and all those concerned with the world of higher education.
Though the book is largely about the entire struggle against intellectually-oppressive speech codes on campuses, Downs focuses on four fascinating case studies. The book visits the campuses of Columbia, the University of California — Berkeley, the University of Pennsylvania and the UW — four of America’s leading academic institutions and an even split between public and private colleges. The matters explored at each of these schools range from the rights of the accused in rape cases (defendant notification, having an attorney present and confronting one’s accuser — among other issues), the infamous “water buffalo” affair at Penn where an overly-sensitive racial environment led to the clearly wrongful persecution of a student and the presence of intellectually-oppressive speech codes. The latter issue, discussed primarily through the lens of the UW campus, is one in which Downs plays the role of both historian and central figure.
“Speech codes allow partisans, in effect, to ‘criminalize’ moral political disagreement and feeling offended in a manner similar to the way in which the now discredited federal independent counsel law criminalized political and policy differences; rather than besting an opponent in the marketplace of ideas or in the political process, partisans who enjoy the support of authorities can take the coercive way out by turning the law against their foes,” Downs writes of the codes he fought so vehemently — and successfully — to abolish in Madison.
And the book is not shy to identify those who personally worked toward the development of civil liberty restrictions on various campuses. Reflecting on the rise of speech codes in Madison, Downs is directly critical of the school’s former chancellor, “Although Chancellor Donna Shalala often praised free speech at Wisconsin, she also presided over the rise of speech codes and made sure that her administration was stacked with individuals who supported her new agenda of diversity. Conformity with this message was necessary to administrative advance.”
It is that bluntness that gives “Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus” much of its flavor. Though Downs is careful to never isolate people into black and white realms of good and evil — he even goes to great lengths to assure the reader on numerous occasions that the people with whom he takes issue likely had the finest of intentions — it is altogether refreshing to see a professor at a major university so willingly call people out for various anti-liberty actions.
But Downs is also quick to give credit where such is due. Strikingly, the book avoids even the slightest pretense of being a self-congratulatory tome as the author is quick to not only give kudos to so many of his colleagues but also to student activists. Thoroughly alien to the Ivory Tower sentiment all-too pervasive in academia today, the author pleasantly credits the true customers of universities — students — with their activism against speech codes. In a sense, this is entirely indicative of the idealism so often found in minds unpolluted by the wears of experience and yet Downs’ ethos are all the more enhanced by his work toward appreciating and seeking to realize those very idealistic ends.
As the book builds toward one of the more climatic moments in a late chapter — a vote to essentially repeal speech codes at UW — the author clearly shows how the impending victory was thoroughly improbable, yet only achieved thanks to the hard work of a group of individuals — students and faculty — who refused to acknowledge the gloom of reality and instead stayed focused on how things should be.
But “Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus” is not merely a reflective look at the victories of past. The book is clearly scribed with an eye on continuing to ensure freedom thrives on campuses across America — both those specifically mentioned in the book and others — and the work’s case studies almost serve as a handbook on how to fight oppressive civil liberty violations in academia. It is clear that Downs and the Committee on Academic Freedom and Rights — of which he has always been a member — are dedicated to continuing to wage this war. And the author’s objectives could not be more clearly stated, “The central thesis of this book is simple and seemingly obvious: the preservation or restoration of free speech and basic civil liberty on campus depends upon political mobilization and commitment that give these principles public presence on campus.”
Grade: A
