EDITORIAL: ‘Within the bounds of free speech’

Hardly a day goes by without another report highlighting the authoritarian atmosphere of groupthink and ideological conformity now overrunning the nation’s college campuses. The latest example of this noxious brew of identity politics, victimhood, grievance and entitlement emanates from UNLV.

The tempest hit Maryland Parkway on Wednesday night when university math instructor George Buch wrote during an online discussion that — TRIGGER ALERT! — there are “no safe spaces in my classroom.” He also wrote that — TRIGGER ALERT! — if he discovered a student was in the country illegally, he’d “have to turn you into ICE.”

Oh my.

The predictable canned outrage ensued, with some students, professors and activist groups calling for Mr. Buch to be punished.

“We particularly take offense when an instructor who’s supposed to create a positive learning environment actually does the opposite by intimidating and scaring our students,” said Francisco Morales, state director of the Center for Community Change Action.

That’s rather amusing, considering that “intimidating and scaring” into silence those who don’t bend at the knee in deference to progressive dogma is the modus operandi of these campus tyrants. It’s highly likely that Mr. Buch’s comments are supported by hundreds of students and faculty members who no doubt prefer to keep their mouths shut rather than risk being chewed up and spit out by the insatiable forces of political correctness.

The director of UNLV’s Office of Compliance told the Review-Journal that his office would investigate Mr. Buch for these “allegations of intimidation/discrimination.” He’d be wise to back off. As local First Amendment lawyer Allen Lichtenstein — one of the few adults in this story — correctly noted, Mr. Buch’s comments were “perfectly within the bounds of of free speech.”

Instead, UNLV administrators should see this as one of those “teaching moments,” informing the offended that there are indeed no “safe spaces” at an educational institution charged with promoting robust debate and fostering the free exchange of ideas. As for Mr. Buch’s comment on immigration, it was hardly extremist or beyond the pale.

By Thursday night, Mr. Buch had shifted into reverse and said the online exchange was meant as a joke. Regardless, the incident shined a light on the stifling forces eager to punish dissent and sanitize discourse that have contaminated higher education these days.

Last month, the Washington Post ran a commentary from an NYU professor who ran afoul of what he deemed the “Social Justice Warrior brand of campus culture run amok” when he made a few offhand tweets. “This debate isn’t about promoting an environment of inclusivity and diversity,” Michael Rectenwald wrote, “but about punishing transgressors.”

And once Mr. Buch does his penance, the coddled mob will be off to devour the next heretic.