Over the past few years of frenzied press coverage and intense think tankery over the issue of campus free speech, there’s been plenty of polling purporting to prove this or that.
We’ve had surveys that tell us about self-censorship, pamphlets that profess to show a culture of campus “silent” no platforming, and polling data that invites alarm at students’ apparent preference for safety rather than freedom.
But one thing that’s been consistently frustrating about the findings has been the lack of intel on why students are responding the way they are.
And when you count students like lab rats rather than engage with them, it’s easy to project your own assumptions and prejudices, as you short cut “why” students are self-censoring or demanding that others do the same.
