[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 192 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7588-S7589]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Alumni Free Speech Alliance

  Mr. President, on another point, I have spoken many times about the 
importance of our First Amendment freedoms. Our commitment to the open 
discussion of ideas is one reason why America has been successful. 
Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult to have these 
conversations and open discussions in our universities.
  It seems like every week, we hear new stories about speakers being 
shouted down or new limits being placed on academic freedom. That is 
why alumni need to speak up. So my remarks today are about an 
organization called the Alumni Free Speech Alliance. Anyone who sees a 
radically different school than they graduated from needs to be willing 
to say so.
  Today, I highlight the work of this organization, repeating their 
name again--the Alumni Free Speech Alliance. This group was created by 
graduates of several colleges who noticed that their alma maters were 
becoming more hostile to freedom of speech and academic freedom wasn't 
being followed. The Alumni Free Speech Alliance partnered with 
organizations of alumni at each of their former colleges to pool their 
resources. By working with those who support open discourse, they hope 
to make it easier to create these alumni groups at more colleges and 
grow the ones that exist.

[[Page S7589]]

  They are right that alumni are often best suited to speak out about 
illiberalism on our campuses. It is understandably hard for students 
and faculty to speak out about the atmosphere of intolerance they live 
and work in. You know they are shamed, embarrassed--all of those things 
that are tools that shouldn't be used in any university that brags 
about academic freedom. That is where the alumni come in. Alumni can 
have an outsized voice in this atmosphere of lack of tolerance at some 
of our universities.
  This is one reason why I recently joined the Senate Campus Free 
Speech Caucus. This Senate caucus aims to bring together Members who 
are interested in defending the rights of students on college campuses. 
In addition, I was proud to cosponsor the campus free speech 
resolution, which urges greater First Amendment protection at public 
universities. Just as with private alumni, Senators need to be willing 
to speak out and shine a light when students' rights are being 
infringed.
  I have heard countless examples of universities putting an emphasis 
on superficial definitions of ``diversity'' that focus only on physical 
characteristics. The benefit of having people from different 
backgrounds is that they bring different viewpoints. But that whole 
concept of diversity is turned on its head if only one point of view is 
ever allowed to be spoken.
  Universities do a disservice to their students if they just tamp down 
any idea that their loudest activists disagree with. Colleges should be 
places of debate and discussion, not enforced intellectual rigidity. 
Alumni need to be willing to speak out about these issues because, too 
often, people who are on that campus can't.
  My definition of ``university'' that I have used throughout a 
lifetime is, it is a place where controversy runs rampant. It is a 
place where we ought to have civil discussions, respecting each other's 
points of view.
  I don't know how many of my colleagues run into what I run into too 
often in Iowa at my town meetings. People proudly stand up and say: You 
know, there are two things I never talk about--religion and politics.
  Well, if you are a religious person and God is going to have an 
impact on your life, why shouldn't you be willing to discuss that? You 
may be discussing it with a Baptist and a Catholic or with an atheist 
and with a Baptist or a Christian. Why shouldn't you be able to discuss 
that in a civil way because it is important to your life?
  We all know the role of Big Government in our society, and we know 
the principles of representative government. Why shouldn't you be able 
to talk about politics? Republicans or Democrats or Socialists and 
Communists versus conservatives or whatever the case might be, you 
ought to be able to disagree in a civil way. It is the same way on the 
university campuses.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.