The Washington Post Highlights Nationwide Fight for Free Speech on Campus

Over the weekend, The Washington Post wrote a story detailing how “College alumni groups spread nationally to counter ‘cancel culture.’” The Buckley Program could not be prouder to be a part of this effort through our new Fight for Yale’s Future initiative.

The Washington Post reported that alumni free speech groups from a number of colleges, “including Harvard, Bucknell, Yale and Cornell universities, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Wofford and Davidson colleges,” have joined the Alumni Free Speech Alliance. Buckley Program Founder and Executive Director Lauren Noble ‘11 sits on the board of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance as well.

“To join, the groups must hold freedom of speech, academic freedom and viewpoint diversity as primary missions,” the paper reported.

Since its founding, the Buckley Program has done just that. As Yale’s largest student group, featuring more than 500 student fellows last year alone, we are working hard to provide Yale’s student body with access to perspectives they won’t hear in the classroom. Our record number of student fellows demonstrates that the students recognize the value the Buckley Program brings to campus. Students have access to academics and intellectuals they would otherwise not meet, hearing perspectives that challenge them on a regular basis.

The story discusses the threat to free speech on campus that Buckley is working to counteract: “A study released by the Knight Foundation and Ipsos earlier this year found that a growing majority of college students believe their campus climate stifles free speech.” By bringing different perspectives to campus, and giving Buckley Fellows the tools they need to feel comfortable bucking the campus orthodoxy, the Buckley Program is working every day to ensure open debate and intellectual exploration on Yale’s campus.

Read the full Washington Post piece here.