Can We Talk? What Universities Can Do About Cancel Culture

Much has been said recently about “cancel culture” in higher education. Close to our home at the University of Virginia, the Virginia governor delivered a speech earlier this month decrying this trend. And one of our undergraduate students recently published an editorial on the same topic and the related pressure to self-censor. One could question some of their assertions, but both have a point. The tendency not simply to disagree with others but to disparage their character or motives is all too common on college campuses and beyond. It is also a bipartisan pastime.

The hard question is what to do about this trend. The problem cannot be solved with simple appeals to protect free speech. To the extent “cancel culture” involves harsh and personal criticism of a speaker or writer, well, that’s what free speech sometimes looks like. A world in which the right to speak is protected, as it must be, can be a tough place. To say we should just protect free speech is effectively to say we should just allow this pattern of ad hominem attacks to continue, which is an option, but not a very attractive one.

Attempts at censorship, meanwhile, are no more helpful. To the contrary – they are a cure that is worse than the disease. We should be concerned about self-imposed censorship, to be sure. But we should be a lot more concerned about censorship at the hands of the government – or university leaders, for that matter. We will be in a far more dangerous place if the answer to controversial or uncomfortable conversations is to silence them. This is especially true for universities, which rest on the bedrock foundation of academic freedom, which in turn allows our faculty and students to “follow truth wherever it might lead,” as Thomas Jefferson said about his hopes for the University of Virginia. At any university, that means protecting the rights of our faculty, students and staff to speak about ideas on which society is divided, no matter how uncomfortable it might make us.

Even if there is no magic wand to wave away “cancel culture,” universities can still lead a way forward. We can teach our students not only about the right to free speech but also how to be empathetic speakers and generous listeners even – and especially – in the midst of our most contentious debates. Speakers who consider alternative perspectives, gather facts and think of the impact of their speech. Listeners who see the humanity in their peers and do not rush to disparage someone’s character simply because of an opinion expressed. We should remind students – and show ourselves – to “be curious, not judgmental,” to quote Walt Whitman via Ted Lasso. We should teach them to dismantle arguments, not people.