Campus free speech is alive — barely

The useful part

They are increasingly willing to treat the God-given right of free speech as something administrators may grant or withdraw. American higher education received its annual free-speech report card this week. The bad news is that we have apparently lowered our expectations to the point where this counts as good news.

How it works

• Rankings, based on the experiences of nearly 63,000 students at 261 American colleges and universities.
• The average university continues to perform badly at one of the activities universities were ostensibly invented to encourage: thinking out loud.
• A hospital that made patients afraid to discuss their symptoms would attract attention.
• A law school where students feared making arguments would be considered defective.
• A university where students learn to keep controversial thoughts to themselves can still issue press releases celebrating its commitment to dialogue.

What to take from it

Universities tell the public, "We are inclusive," while students know they may have to self-censor or risk angering professors who control their grades.

Details worth keeping

America's universities have forgotten what education is for. The good news is that the patient has a pulse. Hearing an argument does not constitute an injury.