Opinion | Caution and Courage on Campus Speech

To the Editor:

Re “Universities Like the One I Run Aren’t Afraid to Let People Argue,” by Michael I. Kotlikoff, the president of Cornell (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, March 31):

As the father of a high school senior currently deciding where to attend college, I agreed with much of what Dr. Kotlikoff had to say. But I was troubled by what he didn’t say. Right now, the greatest threat to academic freedom is the Trump administration.

Foreign students are being detained and threatened with deportation for constitutionally protected speech. The independence of academic departments is being threatened by the White House. Universities are scrubbing their official documents of words the administration deems unacceptable. Defending free speech on campus while not calling this out by name can have only one explanation: fear.

I sympathize. Putting your institution in this administration’s cross hairs risks devastating punishment. But when those who ought to be the greatest defenders of intellectual freedom stay silent or address such threats obliquely, we should all be scared.

When I was a college student, I got to live out the idyllic fantasy that elite schools have marketed for generations: stimulating classes, extracurriculars and lazy afternoons in the quad. My daughter might have a very different experience. Her school might face devastating budget cuts for daring to defy the president. She’ll likely see research disrupted, graduate students’ and professors’ lives upended. She might witness international students being apprehended by masked law enforcement officers for speaking freely.

I’m sorry she won’t get my carefree experience. But I hope the leadership of her school shows her something far more valuable: courage.

Michael Handelman
Brooklyn

To the Editor:

Michael I. Kotlikoff’s essay rang true to me — not as theory, but as lived experience. I was a Cornell undergraduate when Donald Trump was first elected in 2016. I sat in a class where a professor asked if any students were Republican. Nobody raised a hand.

Now I’m a Cornell doctoral student researching a politically charged topic: trophy hunting in Africa. Early on, I faced questions about whether my work belonged in D.E.I.-focused academic spaces. Some peers sought to censor it. The faculty, however, supported my open inquiry. That reshaped how I think, research and teach.

My experiences shape the undergraduate course I teach: Saving the Planet Without Preaching to the Choir. It’s the opposite of ivory tower detachment — students debate real issues with people living them: sustainability executives, faith-based environmentalists, trophy hunters and more. Dialogue isn’t always comfortable, yet it’s essential.

Dr. Kotlikoff is right: Universities are cradles of democracy. Disruption is inevitable, but courage to engage across divides will safeguard our institutions and society. Universities must continue this critical work.

Francine Barchett
Ithaca, N.Y.

To the Editor:

It is disappointing that Michael I. Kotlikoff has chosen to take a stand against threats to free inquiry and expression from students, when the threat posed by President Trump is far greater.

In the past month, we have seen students, graduate fellows and professors detained or denied lawful entry into the United States because of their free expression. Instead of addressing that threat, he chose to publish his story of bravely punishing disruptive students.

Dr. Kotlikoff has a platform. He steers an institution with a $10.7 billion endowment, capable of weathering a storm. He could stand up to the Trump administration and defend the values he espoused in his essay. He, like so many others, has chosen not to.

Dr. Kotlikoff is correct. If universities are to preserve their value and meaning, they cannot let their caution overtake their purpose. Their values face serious threats. They must respond accordingly.

To the Editor:

Re “Trump Administration Fires U.S. Aid Workers Sent to Myanmar Quake Zone” (news article, April 6):

Huh? One must ask the key question: Has there ever been, in the great history of the United States of America, an administration that was more inept, cruel, stupid, inhumane and embarrassing than this Trump administration? Not in my 86 years.

Judith K. Healey
Minneapolis