The last few years has seen a rise in both controversial campus speakers and vociferous student protests (the latter often in direct response to the former). The college campus, which has long been a bastion of the free exchange of ideas, has become the nexus of this clash of ideals, and ignited a debate over free speech, hate speech, and censorship. In our Q&A series Spotlight on Campus Speech, Academic Leader Today brings campus administrators expert perspectives to help understand the current challenges of campus speech issues. For this installment, I interviewed Tom McDaniel. McDaniel’s conference presentation “Campus Freedom of Speech: Issues for Academic Leaders” was one of the top ranked sessions of Magna’s 2017 Leadership in Higher Education conference in Baltimore. His essay “Freedom of Speech Issues: A Legal Primer for Academic Leaders” was anthologized in The Academic Leader’s Handbook.
Officials from the University of Wisconsin-Madison released results from a campus-wide climate survey. The survey of nearly 200 questions was conducted in the fall of 2016. All undergraduate, graduate, professional and non-degree-seeking students were invited to participate. Overall, 8,652 students, or 21% of those who were eligible, completed the survey. The survey was developed by the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement to understand students’ experiences with and perceptions about campus climate and diversity, including how people of different backgrounds and identities experience life at UW–Madison. Academic Leader Today has graphed the data from five key questions concerning perceived safety and inclusion.
