Campus free speech: The real challenge is civil discourse, says one college president

Kenyon College, a small liberal arts college in central Ohio, has adopted a new "freedom of expression" policy to underscore the premise that the college should welcome the broadest possible range of viewpoints, even ones that most on campus consider "mistaken, dangerous or even despicable."

But Kenyon President Sean Decatur told USA TODAY's Cup of Politics that the free speech issue is in some ways the easier part.

"The real challenge and heart of the conversation we are having on campus now is: How do you balance the concept of free speech with the concept of civil discourse," Decatur said. "Free speech is in some ways the easy part of that to define. Civil discourse is hard in part because civility is subjective, and that's the piece that is important for us to grapple with."

Decatur said, for example, that he would not be troubled by a debate on campus about white nationalism, as long as it could be conducted as a true dialogue of ideas, not a platform for propaganda or intimidation.

"How do you have a respectful conversation on something that you find abhorrent and  repulsive? I think its actually possible to do," Decatur said, but "it probably doesn't come with torches."

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