Thread by @McCormickProf

1/ As the new academic year begins, I have some advice for students entering colleges and universities--especially conservative and religiously observant students whose views will place them "outside the mainstream" of secular progressive campus opinion.
mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustic…

2/ You'll encounter double standards. Don't be quiet about them. Ask for them to be removed. If necessary, be assertive and persistent, though always respectful, relying on the force of argument and the power of reason.

3/ You may experience prejudice, perhaps in grading, perhaps in other areas of your academic or social life on campus. If you do, try to find a friendly faculty member who can guide you and perhaps even advocate for you in addressing the injustice.

4/ Ask around to identify faculty members who have spoken out for freedom of speech and viewpoint diversity. Go to the website of the Academic Freedom Alliance--www.academicfreedom.org--to see if any members of the AFA are on the faculty of your institution. (Members are listed.)

5/ It's easier for those of us on the faculty to make an issue of unfairness to students than it is for you to try to do so alone. There are some of us who'll support you and insist that you be treated fairly and that your right to equal, non-discriminatory treatment be honored.

6/ Do not, however, confuse being challenged or criticized with being discriminated against or victimized. Insist on your right to free speech, but remember that others have that right too. They can use it to challenge even your deepest, most cherished, identify-forming beliefs.

7/ They do you no harm in challenging your convictions, just as you do them no harm in challenging their progressive or secularist beliefs. In fact, we do each other a service, not an injustice or wrong, in challenging and critcizing each other's ideas.

8/ As a college or university student you are one of the luckiest--most privileged--people on planet earth. Do not think of yourself as a victim. Do not build an identity for yourself around grievances, despite the double standards, and even if you experience some injustices.

9/ Thinking is not something that can be outsourced. You have to do it for yourself. Don't let your professors tell you what to think. Don't let popular opinion on campus dictate your convictions. If a professor tries to indoctrinate you, resist. His or her job is to educate you.

10/ Indoctrination is the antithesis of education. If there's groupthink on campus the response it should trigger in you is a desire to probe and question. "What's to be said on the other side? Are there thinkers and writers who doubt or deny the 'consensus'?" Find and read them.

11/ Make up your own mind. Think for yourself. Don't be a bully and don't let anyone bully you. If you reach a conclusion that defies the groupthink, don't be afraid to speak your mind about it. Don't censor yourself.

12/ Defend anyone and everyone else's right to think for themselves and express their views, whether or not you share them. When someone comes under attack or is at risk of "cancellation" by an "outrage mob" for expressing an opinion, stand up in support of that person's rights.

13/ By defending robust free speech for all, you are helping to uphold core values without which the university cannot pursue its mission as a truth-seeking institution. Be the kid on the playground who rushes to the defense of the kid who is being bullied.

14/ Do business in the proper currency of academic discourse--a currency consisting of reasons, evidence, and arguments. Challenge your interlocutors to do business in that currency. If they resort to forms of manipulation or to intimidation tactics--defy them and call them out.

15/ Don't hesitate to be blunt in saying, "The name-calling and bullying won't work with me. If you've got an argument, I'll be delighted to hear it and reply. Those are the terms of discussion, as far as I'm concerned. So, do you have an argument, or do you not? I'm waiting."