George Mason Law School Dean stands up for academic freedom

From William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection:

George Mason University School of Law is considered “conservative,” at least by law school standards.

So when CAIR played the Islamophobe card and demanded that the school shut down a speech by Nonie Darwish , Dean Daniel Polsby said no thanks to CAIR’s attempt to squelch dissenting voices:

"It appears that there is need to clarify the policy affecting speakers at the law school.

Student organizations are allocated budget by the Student Bar Association in order to allow them, among other things, to bring speakers to the law school. Neither the law school nor the university can be taken to endorse such speakers or what they say. Law school administration is not consulted about these invitations, nor should we be. Sometimes speakers are invited who are known to espouse controversial points of view. So be it. So long as they are here, they are free to say whatever is on their mind within the bounds of law. They cannot be silenced and they will not be.

Just as speakers are free to speak, protesters are free to protest. They must do so in a place and in a manner that respects the rights of speakers to speak and listeners to listen, and that is in all other ways consistent with the educational mission of the university. Student organizations which hold contrary points of view have every right to schedule their own programs with their own speakers, and these speakers’ rights will be protected in just the same way.

The law school will not exercise editorial control over the words of speakers invited by student organizations, nor will we take responsibility for them, nor will we endorse or condemn them. There has to be a place in the world where controversial ideas and points of view are aired out and given space. This is that place.

Daniel D. Polsby

Professor of Law, Dean

Nonie Darwish is a Muslim apostate who converted to Christianity and who is director of "Arabs for Israel" and "Former Muslims United". CAIR obviously wants her silenced, and, like good Islamists, they use whatever means are at their disposal to censor dissent, including intimidation of the university. CAIR has deep roots in the Islamist Movement and has been credibly accused of funding Hamas.

Academia is the place in which controversial ideas should be aired and discussed. Yet soft totalitarianism infests most American universities today. Dean Polsby's eloquent statement defends our tradition of free speech and open exchange of ideas.

Bravo to Dean Polsby for his eloquent defense of academic freedom.