Review of CAMPUS MISINFORMATION
Review of CAMPUS MISINFORMATION
Is there really a crisis of speech on college campuses?
Disclosure: I work as the Director of Communications for the organization Heterodox Academy (HxA), an organization, and its mission, that Vivian targets in his book, Campus Misinformation. The views expressed in this review are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of HxA.
For anyone who pays attention to higher education, you may know that many have been asking âwhat is happeningâ on todayâs campuses, especially in the last decade. Higher education has become increasingly politicized, and in presidential elections, college education is the most dividing demographic variable indicating whether someone votes Democrat or Republican. And most recently, Florida has been making headlines as DeSantis attempts legislation to âcorrectâ what has âhappenedâ in higher education.
It's hard to deny that there is a âfussâ on college campuses today around concerns of viewpoint diversity and free speech, but how much of a problem is it? Is the problem really a problem, or has a mountain been made of a molehill? In Campus Misinformation: The Real Threat to Free Speech in American Higher Education, Bradford Vivian argues that the âagents of misinformationâ have peddled a false free speech âcrisisâ using an âorganized media campaignâ. The problem with this, Vivian argues, is that the âagents of misinformationâ are the real threat to free speech, and the result of the âmisinformation campaignâ is an anti-university sentiment that signals, and supports, rising authoritarianism in the US. The real problem isnât bad campus culture stifling free speech, itâs Republicans looking to dismantle higher education.
I literally work for an organization that is working to improve campus culture by advocating for viewpoint diversity and open inquiry. So, you can probably imagine that I do not fully agree with Vivian. But, it is an interesting book, and one that I am glad to have read very carefully. That said, my overall assessment is that the book is trying to do too much, and by doing so, he undermines his own arguments in various ways. Although I could easily write several thousand words responding to each of Vivanâs primary claims, thatâs not really the style of my book blog, so I will refrain⊠a bit.
I will start with things I think he gets right, albeit, broad strokes things. I think Vivian is right that there is a group of higher ed folks and pundits that have gone too extreme on the anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) rhetoric, which has caused an over correction that is stifling speech and inquiry â a point that aligns with Vivianâs core thesis. The current anti-DEI legislation in Florida is a good case in point, and is a very real threat to academic freedom of faculty. He is also right that the vast majority of college campuses do not have media-headliner problems of mobs, shutdowns, and speech crises. There are thousands of higher ed institutions in the US, but itâs mostly the state flagship universities and the elite schools that get most of the attention, and have most of the speech problems.
That said, just because the majority of campuses are not dealing with very real threats to free speech, open inquiry, and academic freedom, that should not lead to Vivianâs conclusion that this is a problem that does not need to be addressed. Itâs faulty logic.
This type of faulty logic and hypocrisy is evident throughout the book, which consistently undermines his arguments. He argues that the âagents of misinformationâ and their âmedia campaignsâ utilize âmilitaryâ terminology that creates a false sense of crisis, while using the same linguistic approach himself in every chapter. He asserts that âagents of misinformationâ cherry-pick anecdotes of incidents to overgeneralize, while devoting an entire chapter to campus speaker shutdowns in only 2017-18 as an âexampleâ of âmisinformationâ about the fact that this regularly happens, year after year. He also cherry-picks only a couple of research articles on the uselessness of trigger-warnings while ignoring all the rigorous research that has come out in the last couple of years, despite this being a brand new book. Most of his arguments are illogical, hypocritical, and therefore, weak.
Finally, a core issue I have with Vivianâs approach in his book is conflating related, but distinct, concepts and terms. For those on the âoutsideâ of the academy these distinctions may not mean much, but as an expert insider writing a book on this topic, not knowing the difference between viewpoint diversity, free speech, and academic freedom does no favors for oneâs argument. Viewpoint diversity (which he also uses interchangeably with viewpoint parity when it suits him) is a value and norm; free speech is a constitutional right; and academic freedom is a functional right embedded within the institution of higher education. The book tries to do too much by not addressing each of these properly, and thus lumps them all together across the book and undermines his thesis.
Overall, this is an interesting book to read, but is probably too niche for most people if you donât follow this news stream or have a stake in higher ed. Itâs written well in that it is easy to read, but as someone who knows this space intimately, it was an incredibly frustrating read.
Published: December 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Format: Hardcover
If you think this topic sounds interesting, bookmark these great reads instead:
After the Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke the American Dream and Blew Up Our Politicsâand How to Fix It by Will Bunch (2022) | Read my full review and my op-ed
Sustainable. Resilient. Free.: The Future of Public Higher Education by John Warner (2020)
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Well done getting through the whole book. Would be a real challenge for me to not get riled up and quit halfway through, considering the kinds of hurdles you describe here.