On March 15, 2019, Haas Institute Director john powell and New York Law School Professor Nadine Strossen discussed the issue of campus hate speech at an event at the University of Delaware. The conversation focused on responding to hate speech on college and university campuses – whether free speech absolutism is the answer or if there is room for narrowly tailored campus speech codes. Director powell advocated for the consideration of the issue from a different perspective where the tension between liberty and equality is mediated through the shared principle of participation. Instead of asking that equality yield to speech absolutism in every instance, if the question is harm to participation perhaps that changes the conclusion at which we arrive. Director powell argues that protecting speech is correct in most instances, but in very narrowly tailored instances in critical institutions like universities and the workplace, equality and participation may be better served by regulating hate speech. Read more about this event here.
