OPINION:
When Tirien Steinbach, then Stanford Law School’s associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, scolded 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kyle Duncan at a Federalist Society event where he was heckled and shouted down by abusive protesters, she asked him, “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
The answer was and remains an emphatic yes.
In her non-apology word salad in The Wall Street Journal, Ms. Steinbach explained that she was “referring to the responsibility that comes with freedom of speech: to consider not only the benefit of our words but also the consequences.”
This sounds like a warning to students and faculty who don’t toe the social justice line, who dare to hold heterodox opinions, and who deign to express them. For those thought crimes, there will be consequences.
Indeed, not just at Stanford but throughout academia, the DEI machine has become a well-funded behemoth whose sole purpose is to identify, track and shut down dissenting voices. These departments often implement what are known as bias reporting systems, which chill speech through intimidation, encouraging students to anonymously report their peers for alleged infractions.
The organization I lead, Speech First, found that a majority of both private and public universities implement these schemes, and our research showed them to be on the rise.
Neither Ms. Steinbach nor any of the protesters could have believed they would change Judge Duncan’s mind.
While he bore the brunt of the tirade, the real target was the other students in the room. The goal was to stop them from hearing and learning from Judge Duncan and to destroy any spirit, any inkling of dissent.
It was a shot across the bow for the students who participate in or are sympathetic to conservative organizations like the Federalist Society. This was the intellectual ruling class saying that at Stanford Law, you will not be heard.
Yet they must be heard. It is imperative that we raise leaders who think critically, operate with skepticism, and neither parrot nor plug their ears to figures of administrative and governmental authority.
These are the building blocks that led to the American Revolution and helped us identify transcendent principles that make America truly exceptional. Reestablishing universities as the leaders in intellectual dialectic not only benefits students’ educational experiences but also society as a whole.
Open dialogue at universities is near extinction. Challenging one another to think critically before choosing a side is forbidden fruit that many faculty and students only dream of tasting during their time on campus.
But that is exactly the fruit that needs a squeeze: debate, discussion, people who hold a diversity of viewpoints interacting, sharpening each other’s intellect and creativity.
Currently, administrators, board members and other faculty shirk their responsibilities as university leaders and cower to the DEI heavyweights. They fear cancellation, doxing, violent protests, and most of all, the loss of their jobs and professional prestige.
This is not an irrational fear. They want to protect their livelihoods and their families. The tactics used against dissenters from the far-left “woke” orthodoxy that has taken our campuses, and now our cities, by storm, are harsh and leave permanent damage in their wake.
Still, there is strength in numbers. Most Americans don’t support the intellectual abuse of our students. Relentless and unforgiving public pressure is possible and necessary.
The ousting of university administrators like Tirien Steinbach is key to showing the DEI apparatchiks on college campuses that their political agendas are not welcome.
Early on, several Stanford Law students demanded that Ms. Steinbach be fired — not in loud, abusive picket lines but with an editorial in a student newspaper. Kudos to them.
Speech First launched a petition and received thousands of signatories. We ensured that our ads and message got in front of the right stakeholders and the people who would make the biggest fuss. Ms. Steinbach has left Stanford.
But this battle must be fought on every campus where the DEI establishment practices viewpoint discrimination. We must keep everyone talking, never let up, write to key decision-makers, and let them know this dynamic is unacceptable.
Grassroots efforts to increase public awareness, petitions, and ad campaigns that catch the attention of media and university leadership are paramount.
The key to putting an end to what seems like an ever-growing effort to turn universities into indoctrination centers is to hold the bad actors accountable and not let up until they are. Removing Tirien Steinbach was the first step in showing the public they have a role in reforming the university campus.
We must demand that board members and administrators stop shirking their responsibilities to their students and stand up for them.
Let’s make this the beginning of the end for the DEI, Marxist, intersectionality, identity politics-obsessed, race-baiting toxicity that is turning students’ minds to mush. Let’s carry forth this momentum and eradicate it from campus once and for all.
The consequences of not speaking are too great. The juice is worth the squeeze, and it is very refreshing.
• Cherise Trump is executive director of Speech First, a nonprofit that protects students’ free speech rights through advocacy, litigation, and education. Follow her on Twitter @cherisetrump.
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