Free Speech

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, on another subject, I have come to this floor several times in recent months--maybe over the course of a couple of years--on my concerns about free speech on campus. There has been a lot said in opposition to reports of crackdown on speech on campuses, but today I come to the floor to give one shining example of a university upholding expressions of free speech and making it still happen.

This all started with former University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer. The institution, starting with him and continuing, has consistently pushed back on the trends of safe spaces, trigger warnings, and the cancellation of invited speakers.

Instead, in a letter to all incoming freshmen, the University of Chicago lays out its philosophy in plain English. In the letter to the 2020 freshman class, it said that one of the university's ``defining characteristics is our commitment to freedom of inquiry and expression.''

Now, this is more than just words; the university has consistently followed through on this policy. Even today, the university is still open to dissenting points of view. It even goes so far as to tell freshmen ``at times this may challenge you and even cause discomfort.''

They are absolutely right. The point of college is not to be coddled. The point of college or university is to learn. How can students do that if they don't step out of their comfort zone?

I often say that my definition of a university is a place where controversy should run rampant. At the University of Chicago, that means noting that ``diversity of opinion and background is a fundamental strength of our community.''

Both opinion and background are very important, and it defeats the point to just have the one. Our universities cannot just have just a veneer of diversity; the whole point of bringing in students of different backgrounds is to get different points of view. That aim is meaningless if all students who go to the college believe the same things.

I have introduced several bills to provide transparency for prospective students. My bills focus on transparency of cost, but in many ways openness about a university's values are just as important.

So I congratulate former President Zimmer, who is doing just that and putting his university's values on his sleeve. If some schools keep cracking down on free speech and invited speakers, then the free market will send their students elsewhere. That is because I don't think all kids want to go to a school where they will never be challenged and where their ideals will always be reaffirmed.

I am happy to see projects like the University of Austin, a newly founded college dedicated to free speech principles.

So, in conclusion, it takes time to start new institutions. Instead, we need people to stand up in the colleges that we already have. And I hope others will join me in doing just that.

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