New university promising free discourse opens
A new university promising academic freedom announced last week it is now accepting applications.
The University of Austin (UATX) bills itself as an answer to the totalitarianism that now dominates America’s schools, and says it is committed to “intellectual liberation.” It is open to students who seek “fair-minded open inquiry and sustained civil discourse,” and is offering full scholarships to the 100 students who sign up for the fall semester.
“We believe a university is a place for intellectual exploration and advancement of knowledge,” the school says on its website. “At UATX, students, faculty, and scholars have the right to pursue their academic interests and deliberate freely, without fear of censorship or retribution.”
In its Constitution the university prohibits favoring any political affiliation and forbids the school or any of its institutes from expressing political, religious, or social views. It takes several swipes at diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) ideology by requiring all admissions, hires, and terminations to be based purely on “academic capability” and merit rather than factors like race or sexual orientation.
Faculty and administrative staff are explicitly prohibited in the UATX Constitution from exerting their authority to pressure students into adopting a particular political or social stance. Students are free to form associations and clubs, which may invite any speakers they wish — but while students are allowed to protest speakers, they may not disrupt their speeches.
This past summer UATX held “forbidden courses” to “explore the great questions of our time.” Students discussed morality, science and Christianity, critiqued feminism, and debated whether Islam is a “religion of peace.”
“We named our summer program Forbidden Courses because higher education has made it difficult to inquire openly into vexing questions with honesty and without fear of shame,” explained the university.
In a course titled “Writing Sexual Politics,” students discussed the political narratives driving feminist texts and delved into the nuanced differences between men and women. In “Racial Inequality in America,” readings included works from Conservative economist Thomas Sowell. Other courses included “The Invasion of Ideology into Evolutionary Biology” and “The Psychology of Morality.”
UATX was founded by public figures known for their opposition to tyrannical ideologies, such as journalist Bari Weiss. In 2020 Weiss famously resigned from her post at the New York Times over the paper’s hostility towards employees who do not espouse Leftism. A self-described centrist, Weiss decried how Twitter users have become the paper’s “ultimate editor.”
Other founders include historian Niall Ferguson, who has drawn fire for opposing the Islamization of Europe and the war in Ukraine, and making statements supportive of President Donald Trump.
Lecturers include journalist Michael Shellenberger, who reported on The Twitter Files and exposed an industrial censorship complex involving the US government and technocracies, as well as Scott Dillon, CEO of the openly Conservative satire publication Babylon Bee.
While it encourages diversity of thought, the university appears to have adopted a pro-American stance.
“Our students will learn the foundations, blessings, and challenges of a free and prosperous society,” said UATX Provost and Dean of Intellectual Foundations Jacob Howland. “They will grasp the importance of law, virtue, order, beauty, and the sacred. They will appreciate the distinct vitality of the American form of government and way of life.”
The totalitarian culture sweeping America’s universities has caused alarm even among refugees from dictatorships like North Korea. American colleges have been consistently scoring low in academic freedom, with the country’s Ivy Leagues ranking among the worst places for those seeking free discourse.
In September the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) published its annual free speech index which grades America’s colleges on their commitment to free speech. The rankings are based on a host of factors such as a school’s attitude towards students who disrupt the speech of others, the school’s own policies, and students’ perceptions of the administration’s tolerance toward a broad range of viewpoints. Also considered is how many times a school has supported or sanctioned controversial lecturers, speakers, students or student groups.
Michigan Technological University won top spot on the index out of 248 colleges with a score of 78.01. Though MTU was labeled as having a “Good Speech Climate” — 52% of students say they have rarely or never self-censored on campus — students have expressed discomfort at speaking their views.
"I am a straight white male and was told that I did not understand what was being talked about when referring to underprivileged communities because I have never had to face struggles like other people,” said one student. “I did not feel there was any appropriate way to respond despite growing up in extreme poverty.”
Harvard University, on the other hand, ranked last place on the index with a score of zero. Speakers, scholars or students who express diverse ideas are often sanctioned by the university, and over 70% of students feel it is acceptable to shout down speech they do not find permissible. Only “39% of students say they are not worried about damaging their reputation because someone misunderstands something they have said or done.”
Students at Harvard describe being forced to introduce themselves using pronouns and being ostracized for stating an opinion. Some students report abstaining from posting to social media under their real names for fear of reprisal from other students.
"I often avoid posting controversial takes on social media tied to my name because I am afraid that they might be misconstrued by my classmates or admin,” said one Harvard student.
Others appeared to confirm that it is primarily the students, not the faculty or administration, who enforce ideological homogeneity:
Anything that would fall in the realm of 'cancelable' opinions I would feel substantial pause about expressing. I'd be most worried about the response of students than professors or administrators though.
. . .
I felt uncomfortable speaking about the immorality of abortion, because it is the campus-wide view that killing an innocent human being is valid. I was ostracized in my class for saying so.
. . .
Despite having friends and a strong social support network on campus, I felt very alone. I am a moderate Republican, and even opinions I possess that are moderate or even left leaning on the national scale seem relatively unaccepted among the student body. It is an incredibly difficult and isolating political landscape to navigate for someone who is not left wing.
Harvard was closely preceded on the index by other Ivy League colleges such as Georgetown University (#245), Dartmouth College (#240), Yale University (#234), Columbia University (#214), and Cornell University (#212).
Six universities — Hillsdale College, Pepperdine University, Liberty University, Brigham Young University, and Saint Louis University — failed to make the list because their policies are openly non-committal to free speech. Instead, they were placed in a second index of “Warning Schools” and ranked in relation to each other.
