Defending Michael Roth

Not that he needs me to. I agree with Steve--and have said as much, here and elsewhere--that university's discovery of the freedom to offend and to express the idea we hate miraculously appeared only when offense began targeting Jews.

As to Roth*: My instinct is to take him at his word--he intends to apply "no right not to be offended" across the board. He said as much during the parents' convocation last week. Of course, that tells us nothing about how the administrators in the DEI office act on the ground, but I only know so much at this point.

Full disclosure: I have been a fan for many years, since long before the current campus controversies or my kid's interest in going to the school. I saw video of him (from just after the Great Recession, when the bottom dropping out of humanities began accelerating) defending liberal arts and college education being about more than getting a job; I was hooked. That he has (mostly) gotten the speech stuff right--and that my kid decided to go there--only adds to my fanboydom.

Roth said something else to parents I found interesting: That students have a right not to be harassed but no right not to be offended and that the line between them is clear and obvious in most cases. And I think most people in that room agreed--it is clear and obvious. But I expect most would disagree with me (and him) about which side any particular case fell.