A Nation of Snowflakes

Numerous incidents on campuses, along with national surveys of students, have led to complaints that college students don't value free expression. Pundits and politicians complain that students are so sensitive that they refuse to engage with ideas that make them uncomfortable. Many of the comments lament what is seen as a problem with the current generation of college students.

But a new survey suggests that the general public may be as conflicted and inconsistent about free expression on campus as students are.

The Bucknell University Institute for Public Policy commissioned YouGov to conduct a survey of the public about campus speech, and responses were analyzed from a nationally representative sample of 1,200. The results were very similar to studies of students: broad support for the idea of free speech on campus, but also willingness to curtail some kinds of protected speech. The results were the same for Democrats and Republicans, but those of differing political views would permit speech on different topics to be restricted.

When asked a general question about free speech, 78 percent agreed that “in order to promote intellectual engagement, colleges should never prohibit speech for any reason.”

But when asked about specific scenarios, that absolute commitment to free speech gets a lot less absolute.

Asked if colleges should be able to restrict speech that is sexist, 55 percent of Democrats agreed, while 35 percent of Republicans and independents agreed. Asked about speech that is "offensive to racial minorities," 62 percent of Democrats agreed, while 31 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of independents agreed.

But asked if colleges should be able to restrict "the teaching of radical ideas," 65 percent of Republicans agreed, while only 41 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of independents agreed.

Chris Ellis, associate professor of political science at Bucknell, was the lead author on the research, which he described on the blog “Monkey Cage.”

In an interview, Ellis said the data suggest that it's unfair to imply that a lack of appreciation of free expression is unique to current college students. "Students are grappling with the complexity of this just as everyone else is," he said. Those who are concerned about support for free expression should consider the entire population, not just students, he said.

Notably, however, Ellis said that older Americans -- those who would have attended colleges in the ’60s -- were slightly more consistent in supporting free speech than were other adults.

Ellis said he hoped the study would lead to more "nuance" in discussions of free speech issues, and talking about real areas of concern without simply bashing the current generation of students.

Even though polls of students have shown their ambivalence about some matters of free speech on campus, Ellis said he thought it was unfair to imply that an entire generation supports things like disrupting speakers when students disagree with them.

Of those who disrupt, he said that "it's a small and loud group of students, but most students are much more willing to engage in different perspectives."