Colleges have a twofold duty when it comes to dealing with censorship. First, there is the duty to not censor the free expression of ideas, especially important and newsworthy ones. Second, colleges have the duty to protect speakers from being silenced by others. Century has failed miserably on both counts.

The value of free expression is perceived to be at odds with goals that were considered 'more important,' like inclusiveness, diversity, nondiscrimination, and tolerance.

It's a public school system. It's bound by the First Amendment.

It's absurd to try to police demeaning speech. That's not what a free society does.

Real harassment is a real problem, but the AAUW conflates harassment with any expression deemed sexually 'offensive' and thus endangers free expression while trivializing actual harassment.

Basically, I woke up one morning and there was this new form of protest.

Taleb opens the book with a poetic image that should speak to all parents. He notes that wind extinguishes a candle but energizes a fire. He advises us not to be like candles and not to turn our children into candles: "You want to be the fire and wish for the wind.

No one individual is immune to the criticism of others and none can claim to be above intellectual reproach. No one is omniscient or infallible, so we are all forced to defend our arguments with logic, evidence, and persuasion.

Being offended is an emotional state, not a substantive argument; we cannot afford to give it the power to stifle debate.

...those in power often invoke civility to punish speech they dislike, but overlook the equally acid-tongued statements that are in agreement with their own assumptions.