On Thursday, March 24, Princeton Open Campus Coalition (POCC), in collaboration with the Princeton Federalist Society and the Clio Party, hosted a panel of guest speakers on the topic of free speech. The event featured former Portland State professor Peter Boghossian and Princeton alumni Ilya Shapiro ’99 and Samantha Harris ’99 and was called “Mob Rule: the Illiberal Left’s Threat to Campus Discourse.” The event centered on the value of free speech and inquiry, particularly in academia, and the phenomenon of “cancellation.” Solveig Gold ’17, a Visiting Fellow at the James Madison Program, moderated the panel before a large audience in the Whig Senate Chamber.
Peter Boghossian, an author and public intellectual, is known for participating in a hoax intended to demonstrate the low standards of peer-reviewed social science journals. Boghossian publicly resigned from Portland State last year, arguing that the school’s educational agenda was focused on social justice rather than truth seeking.
Ilya Shapiro, former president of Cato Institute, intended to work for Georgetown University’s Center for the Constitution, but, following a tweet Shapiro described as “inartful” about Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, he has been put on paid leave. He has since been physically obstructed from speaking at UC Hastings by student protestors.
Samantha Harris is an attorney at Allen Harris Law. She defends college student and faculty rights, especially fighting for their ability to freely express their views. Harris also advocates for free speech in campus discourse, writing and lecturing publicly on the topic.
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