Should the General Assembly protect free speech at private colleges?

California did it decades ago. Davidson College makes me think we should, too

My Observer column last week was about a free speech controversy at Davidson College. A conservative student passed out a pamphlet supporting Israel and pushing back against pro-Hamas narratives — and got hit with a disciplinary warning for it.

You can read the column here: Davidson College protects free speech — until it’s controversial

I didn’t have a chance to get into this in the column, but it got me thinking: Should we be doing more to protect student speech at private colleges?

California passed a law in 1992 requiring private colleges to protect free speech. North Carolina could follow suit, with a narrowly tailored version that exempts bona fide religious institutions but applies to places that make free speech promises like Davidson.

Should we do it? I’ll put a poll at the bottom of this email.

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