Literary Review Blog #1:

Here is the book on Google Books that I will be using for my project. Titled, "Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate," Greg Lukianoff dives into the realities of speech on college campuses.

Lukianoff, Greg. Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate. New York: Encounter, 2012. Print.

In his book, Lukainoff ventures into the world of a first year student at college. In doing so, he exposes the array of free speech violations universities impose on their students. He describes the academic environment in which this kind of behavior resides, by exposing universities for framing debates and supporting things such as group think. Additionally, and related to my earlier blog post about a "free speech zone" at the University of Cincinnati, Lukianoff illustrates the limited speech rights that students have in academia today. Additionally, he covers controversies related to big names in politics including Rush Limbaugh and Jon Stewart. Greg Lukianoff is a First Amendment lawyer and the President of FIRE (The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education). He has penned articles that published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and several other media outlets. Today he is a blogger for the Huffington Post. His track record on civil liberties and his advocacy for free speech, especially on college campuses, is unmatched by most in the national debate today. Some of the key terms he uses in the book include: liberty, authority, censorship and free speech.

Some pertinent quotes (Note: the online version on Google Books does not have page numbers though I counted my own from the start of the introduction):

1.) "The VSU president's attitude towards dissent is replicated by administrators both high and low at too many colleges across the country  where differences of opinion are not viewed as opportunities to learn or to think through ideas. Instead, dissent is regarded as a nuisance at best, and sometimes as an outright threat--even when it's only about parking garages" (2).

To introduce this next quote: A student at VSU was expelled from the university because of his environmentalist collage and was therefore, according to the administration, a "clear and present danger."

2.) "For First Amendment layers, students of history, and fans of Tom Clancy, 'clear and present danger' is a legal doctrine arising from World War I that refers to grave threats to the nation  itself, such as encouraging sabotage, espionage, outright revolt, or other forms of terrorism and treason" (2).

Though a good verdict came out of this case...

3.) "In light of this evidence, the court ruled that President Zaccari had violated Hayden's due process rights so clearly and brazenly that he should be held personally and financially liable for damages" (4).

All of the material in this book will help to further research my topic for several reasons. First of all it compiles many different areas that relate to free speech on campus, providing one cohesive argument and therefore source against the violations of free speech on campuses. Secondly, it provides many specific examples of how and where freedom of speech has been violated on college campuses.

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