I had the pleasure of meeting with President Daniel Pullin and TCU General Counsel Lee Tyner in order to share with them how I was studying free speech culture at TCU, to tell them about my project findings, as well as get their outlook on free speech at TCU. We all agreed that free speech is necessary in society and especially in the classroom. TCU is a private institution and does not legally have to abide by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, but TCU makes policies that guarantees students and faculties the right to free speech as well as academic freedom. We talked about how the regulation of speech is not good for anyone. One example presented was that many social justice advocates are critical of institutions and the government for allowing “hate speech” or “offensive words.” However, regulation would likely lead to these people being unable to voice their opinions.
President Pullin noted how TCU has an open campus culture when it comes to being open to different ideas, especially when compared to many other colleges and universities. He mentioned how speakers with different ideologies have come to campus, including Dr. Cornel West and Charlie Kirk, as well as the hosting of a drag show. The Religion Department hosted Dr. West (among others) and the Women and Gender Studies Department put on the drag show performance, while students in the TCU Turning Point USA club put on the Charlie Kirk event.
When discussing the fact that many students censor themselves in the classroom, Mr. Tyner brought up one explanation as a lack of experience in articulating opinions. They both stated that college is a very formative time in an individual’s life, and being exposed to more thought over the course of the four years will lead to more confidence to speak up. Essentially, making use of one’s free speech comes with maturity, and they speculate that seniors are more vocal in classes than freshman. What I have found from interviews with students is that students generally feel more comfortable expressing their views when the professor has not expressed theirs. Both did not find too much issue with professors sharing their views. They think that this allows for more critical thinking to occur for students.
Another topic we discussed was TCU’s policies regarding free speech. While FIRE did not list TCU on their rankings, they graded TCU’s policies as a yellow light school. Both President Pullin and Mr. Tyner seemed satisfied with this ranking. They feel their execution with these current policies is carried out well.
Overall, these leaders believe that TCU does a good job creating a campus culture of free discourse. I would like to make TCU even more open to the free exchange of ideas, where all students feel their thoughts are accepted and heard.