CNU SPEAKS
Change sparked by students’ op-ed in campus newspaper
Christopher Newport University president approves new statement on free speech and expression, sparked by student’s op-ed in campus newspaper.
“There is freedom on this campus to speak and there is a community that’s very open and respectful of different opinions.”
Christopher Newport University President Paul Trible
NEWPORT NEWS – Christopher Newport University President Paul Trible approved a new university statement on free speech and expression late last year after two students pushed him to do so.
The statement was first sparked by Moriah Poliakoff and Rachel Wagner in fall 2017, according to an opinion piece the two students penned in the student newspaper, The Captain’s Log.
In the op-ed, published while the statement was still a draft, Poliakoff and Wagner wrote they “greatly appreciate the steps that CNU has taken toward publicly affirming the rights of students, faculty and staff to speak, inquire, hear and debate.
“Some might fear that endorsing this statement means that the university is promoting all opinions as equal,” they continued. “However, from our point of view, the statement does the exact opposite: all people have the right to express their views, but the value of those views is only determined by the students, faculty and staff engaging in the free marketplace of ideas.”
Trible first called for a review of a draft statement in a message to campus Oct. 2, inviting faculty, students and staff to contribute to the discussion at three sessions that month. He later approved a final statement and released it in late November.
The draft and final version are both largely based on the Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression of the University of Chicago. Those “Chicago Principles” have been adopted by more than 50 universities or faculty bodies, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and “represent a reinvigoration of commitment to a higher standard of conduct and acknowledgment of open discourse as the lifeblood of the university,” Poliakoff and Wagner wrote.
The statement reaffirms that “free inquiry is at the core of liberal learning. It can only flourish where the freedom of expression is not only respected, but valued.”
That doesn’t mean, though, that the First Amendment, which protects the freedom of speech and expression, can be ignored.
“Although faculty, students and staff are free to criticize, challenge and condemn views expressed on campus by exercising their own right to speak, they may not object, disrupt or otherwise interfere with the expression of the views of others, though they may reject or even loathe them,” the statement continues.
In his notice to campus, Trible cited federal lawsuits, state legislation and “disruptive actions” as signs that free speech is under attack in the United States, noting that it has been seen in other Virginia institutions. He told the Daily Press that he did not think it was currently a problem on campus.
“There is freedom on this campus to speak and there is a community that’s very open and respectful of different opinions and I think that’s what (Poliakoff and Wagner) were talking about and I think that’s what every academic institution should hope to be,” Trible told the Daily Press. “Free inquiry is at the core of liberal learning. And it can only flourish when the freedom of expression is respected and valued.
“They thought we were a model of the best behavior but they thought that the times required that we be very clear about who we were and what we valued and what was important to us as an institution and as a campus culture,” Trible said.
New state code requires that each public institution adopt a free speech policy, which CNU has had in place since 2012. It also requires a report to the governor and the chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health covering any complaints or lawsuits against the institution for alleged violations of the First Amendment over the past year.
Trible’s letter on Nov. 30 said there had been none since Dec. 1, 2017.
Read the full statement at cnu.edu.