“Anathema In The University Mission”: Bari Weiss Canceled At UCLA

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

This week, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss was supposed to give the UCLA Burkle Center’s annual Daniel Pearl Memorial guest lecture on “The Future of Journalism.” It was a wonderful opportunity for students to hear from one of the impactful voices in the media. However, they will not be able to do so after a successful cancel campaign supported by faculty members.

The College Fix reports that roughly 11,000 people signed a petition demanding the university cancel the event, and a leader at the center hosting her talk threatened to resign if the journalist spoke.

One of the most outspoken critics was Margaret Peters, associate director of the Burkle Center, who suggested that she would resign even if Weiss were allowed to speak virtually, according to The Daily Bruin.

The LA Times reported that UCLA was turning to the common excuse of security concerns to effectively yield to the heckler’s veto.

Peters told The Daily Bruin:

“that she believes Weiss has used the guise of free speech to attack people on the left whose opinions she does not agree with – and having her speak at a signatory lecture would legitimize these actions…

To invite somebody who is working against that mission in highly powerful places just seems like anathema in the university mission.”

This statement is an example of the culture that is inculcated into students who become intolerant in college. It explains why students feel righteous in shouting down or interrupting speakers.

What is “anathema” to the academic mission is the viewpoint intolerance and orthodoxy shown by Peters and the faculty and students at UCLA. In accusing Weiss of attacking those with “opinions she does not agree with,” Peters demanded that Weiss be silenced as someone with opinions that she does not agree with.

The lack of self-awareness is a common element among many in higher education who claim to support free speech and intellectual diversity while purging universities of conservative or libertarian faculty or speakers.

The fact that UCLA would pick Peters to lead this Center speaks volumes about the culture in higher education. Peters felt complete license to speak as the Associate Director for the canceling of speakers with opposing views.  Her overt intolerance was likely an advantage with other faculty members.

After years of surveys showing the purging of faculty ranks, there is no evidence that faculty members are willing to allow a diversity of opinions.

After years of viewpoint intolerance, schools like Yale have finally reached the point where there is not a single faculty member left who donates to the Republican Party or candidates.

In 2018, a faculty member who called for greater viewpoint diversity at Sarah Lawrence was the subject of threats and vandalism.

Samuel J. Abrams, a professor at Sarah Lawrence College, wrote about the problem almost ten years ago. His research showed that, while the faculty was overwhelmingly liberal, the administrators were even more so. In his survey of 900 college administrators, he found that liberal staff members outnumber conservative staff members by a 12-to-1 ratio: “A fairly liberal student body is being taught by a very liberal professoriate — and socialized by an incredibly liberal group of administrators.”

That was almost a decade ago.

This does not happen overnight or by accident. It is the result of faculty and administrators replicating their own views while effectively purging their ranks of conservatives or moderates.

Today, even liberal columnists like Ezra Klein have been subject to disruptive protests. It is rare for libertarian or conservative figures to be invited on campuses and these faculty members have succeeded in deterring others.

It is important for speakers to continue to appear on campuses despite these threats. We cannot yield to the mob.