Excluding Students Is Not Free Speech — It’s the End of It
- Cornell Free Speech Alliance
- Sep 28
- 2 min read
A recent report in the New York Post reveals troubling allegations at Cornell: a law professor is calling for a federal civil rights probe after a colleague allegedly excluded an Israeli student from a course on Gaza. The class, titled “Gaza, Indigeneity, Resistance,” is now at the center of a controversy over free expression, discrimination, and the very role of the university.
According to Cornell, the instructor involved admitted to actions that “violated federal civil rights laws and fell short of the university’s expectations for student interactions.” Disciplinary action has been recommended, and calls are mounting — including from Cornell law professor William Jacobson — for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to step in.
Why This Matters for Free Speech at Cornell
Cornell, like all universities, exists to expose students to contested ideas. A classroom should be where disagreement sharpens thinking -- not where certain identities or viewpoints are silenced before the conversation even begins.
If it is true that a student was dismissed from class because of nationality or presumed disagreement, then this was not just a failure of professional judgment. It was a direct attack on the principle of free speech itself. To exclude a student in this way is to declare that education only happens among those who already agree.
That is not education. It is indoctrination.
What the Free Speech Alliance Stands For
Universities are for debate, not conformity.No professor should fear dissenting voices; they should welcome them.
Identity is not a basis for exclusion.Academic freedom protects professors — but it does not extend to discriminating against students because of who they are or what they might believe.
External accountability may be necessary.In cases as serious as this, independent oversight from federal civil rights bodies can ensure Cornell addresses violations transparently and fairly.
Free speech requires courage.The hardest test of free speech is whether we allow voices we dislike to be heard. If Cornell fails here, it sends a chilling message to every student: your place in the classroom depends not on your right to learn, but on whether your identity passes muster with your professor.
Our Position
To dismiss a student from class because you assume they will disagree with you (or because of their nationality) is the opposite of free speech. It violates not only civil rights law, but also the academic mission of Cornell.
The Cornell Free Speech Alliance calls on the university to reaffirm in no uncertain terms that classrooms must remain places of open inquiry. If faculty are allowed to silence or exclude students for who they are, Cornell ceases to be a forum for free thought.
We stand firmly for a Cornell where every student can hear, question, and speak without fear of exclusion. That is what universities are for. That is what free speech demands.
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