geoff: Since the terror attack by hamas and Israel's ongoing response, there have been bitter debates on many college campuses over who bears responsibility. This plays into already raging debates at many schools over free speech and increasingly academic freedom. Judy woodruff visited four colleges in an effort to understand how this all fits into America's deep political divide. It is part of her ongoing series "America at a crossroads." >> [Chanting] >> It is disgusting. Disgusting. It is disgusting. Judy: These are just some of the things invited guests to college campuses have heard in recent years, as they were shouted down, mocked, and otherwise prevented from speaking. In one incident at New York's Cornell university last year, conservative commentator and colder was met with forceful -- Ann Coulter was met with forceful protests. Students inside the room repeatedly disrupted her speech. >> Ms. Coulter is going to stop her speech if we are not able to hear her. If you would like to protest, there is a space to do that outside. Judy: Until she walked out after 20 minutes. Nick wising, the president of Cornell Democrats and others, protested outside the law school where Coulter was speaking. Did you think it was a good thing she had been shouted down? >> Her brand is controversy. But I think we need to be very careful about hatred masquerading as argumentation. Judy: But did you think she should have been allowed to speak? >> I think it was pretty immature the way that people interrupted her speech. Judy: Arman chancellor is a member of Cornell Republicans. She was in the room during the event. >> I think it shows a dislike of Republicans more broadly, and conservatives. Even before she spoke, there were lots of attacks at Republicans themselves. Judy: Rebecca wrote about the incident in the student newspaper, the Cornell sun. >> I don't think>> We should be endorsing views that are racist or sexist or anything like that. But I do think it is important to hear all of these views because when you are out in the real world, I think you hear people discussing things that are not for the good of society. You have to learn how to react. Judy: Not all students agree. According to recent polling by the foundation for into jewel rights and expression -- for individual rights and expression, 62% of U.S. College students said shouting down a speaker was acceptable to some degree. 20% said using violence to disrupt a speaking event would be acceptable to some degree. In recent years, there have been increasing attempts by students to dis-invite or shut down speakers, with dozens of incidents each year. And Americans across the political spectrum say they view colleges as unfriendly to conservative ideas. Just 20% say they feel conservatives have a lot of freedom to express their views on campus, according to polling done by the associated press. Following the Ann Coulter incident at Cornell, the students who interrupted her were sanctioned by the university, and Cornell president Martha Pollock announced the freedom of expression is the theme of this academic year. >> Free expression is critical to everything we do in the university. Judy: Her school is one of a group of 13 universities that have banded together to highlight their concern about this issue. >> I felt it was a moment where free expression is under attack from both sides of the political spectrum, and it seemed important that universities like ours take the lead. There are students and others who look at Ann Coulter and look at that message and say, that is not a message we should hear. That is a message of hate. Why should we have to listen to it? The problem with declaring things as hate speech and putting them out of bounds is someone has to get to decide what counts as hate speech. It is really very dangerous to seed the right to express your views to someone else. History has shown us over and over that when you cede that right, it is the marginal groups that lose. >> On college campuses in particular, there is not much civil discourse going on at all. Judy: Ilya Shapiro does a constitutional scholar who spent years at the cato institute and was briefly the executive director director of the Georgetown law school's center for the constitution. That job was interrupted almost immediately by an investigation into a tweet Shapiro wrote just before he started, when president Biden committed to nominating a black woman to the supreme court. >> It didn't sit right with me that president Biden said he was restricting his search by race and sex. And late at night on Twitter, not a best practice -- I don't recommend this -- I fired off what is a hot take before going to bed. I didn't phrase it the way I would have wished. Judy: Schapiro says because he meant this court would have a lesser black woman. >> And we would end up with someone who was less qualified, in this case, a less qualified black woman. I didn't phrase that very well. That provoked a firestorm and led to four months of investigation. Judy: Georgetown administrators ultimately cleared Schapiro of wrongdoing on a technicality. Nevertheless, he resigned in protest. He now contends his experience is representative of a general climate of fear and censorship on campuses across the nation. >> There is a bureaucracy that has sprung up, particularly the diversity and equity inclusion offices, that I think phone meant and illiberal trend to stifle freedom of space. >> I want you to disagree with me. I need you to disagree with me. I look at it through a different lens. Judy: Weathers the right or the left, in response to what everyone virtually agrees is a hyper politically conscious atmosphere, some colleges are taking steps to encourage productive conversations among students and faculty. >> I have to understand your experiences and you have to understand mine. Judy: The American university project on civic dialogue created what they call "Disagree with a professor" sessions. >> My position is we should keep that option that a juvenile is tried as an adult. Judy: On Wednesday night, professor Kevin Boyle gave a lecture designed to provoke disagreement among students. >> Juvenile sentencing and juvenile cases are about rehabilitation and helping kids and juveniles. But adult prison is a sentence to nothingness, you know? Judy: American university students we spoke to had varied opinions about the state of dialogue at their school. Do you feel that when you finish school and you are out in the world that you will be able to have conversations with people who have profoundly different political views from you? >> Yes. I feel I have been exposed so much that when it does come up again in the future, I am not going to be shaken by or taken aback or scared to speak up. Judy: Is there a sense that students can speak up and speak their mind? >> Well, I don't think so. If you are looking for a job and looking to have a social life, you don't want to be at the center of a firestorm around politics. Judy: Professor Laura sch wartz founded the project on civic dialogue, which hosts the disagree with a professor sessions, and encourages students to engage in dialogue. >> We are at a time where many people instead of coming to conclusions based on inquiry check what their team thinks about an issue and says, that is what I think about an issue. When you poll students, the overwhelming majority, 80% or more, say it is really important to hear from different perspectives. But we don't have a lot of practice in our society doing that. Judy: But even as a number of campuses like American and Cornell moved to confront concerns about limited speech, there is a growing worry among other schools as conservative state governments are moving in the opposite direction. Eight states now have laws on the books that limit what state run college and university professors can teach in their classrooms. Florida's law is the most specific, and so far, the most restrictive. The law, sb-266, makes it illegal to teach students that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States. It also restricts funding for any campus activities that advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote and engage in political or social activism. >> We want to be able to have a government of freedom. It is very simple. Judy: Professor Sarah Hernandez teaches sociology at the new college of Florida, a public four-year school in Sarasota. She also is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state of Florida that challenges sb-266. >> The legislation is saying that the state has the authority to dictate what can or cannot be taught in the classroom in terms of gender equality, issues of race and ethnic inequality. So, they don't allow one to be teaching about activism. Judy: So, you have made changes in what Yo teach as a result of this? >> The changes I have made are primarily in informing the students that what I am telling them could be interpreted as being illegal. But always with the concern that I just might be fired at any point. Judy: Governor Ron Desantis took a special interest in the new college earlier this year. >> Some of these niche subjects like critical race theory, other types of courses and majors, Florida is getting out of that game. Judy: Igniting protests when he replaced six members of the board of trustees with conservative activists who fired the college president, denied tenure to professors, and planned to phase out the gender studies program. >> We have lost a lot of professors. They have other options. Similarly, we have staff that some have been let go. I am thinking of the Dean of diversity and inclusion. Judy: A student of professor Hernandez is a senior who joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff. >> I am an urban studies student, and we no longer have any urban studies faculty. A lot of the urban studies programming and classes directly challenge the laws that are currently in place. Judy: Gabby Bautista is a senior who has been organizing students to protest the changes at new college. >> We have been trying to go with this tagline, your school is next, because in actuality that is the real fear, that we are the canary in the coal mine. Judy: 40% of the new college faculty has quit since the Desantis chosen board of trustees was installed. >> It is a very tense environment. Judy: For her part, professor Hernandez has decided to stay put. >> I left my country of birth many years ago. There was something real in political oppression. I am done running. I feel it is important to stand and say no. I believe in the importance of academic freedom. And unless somebody stays and stands for it, we just might lose it. Judy: For the pbs newshour, I'm Judy woodruff in Sarasota, Florida. ♪♪
