How the Federal Government Is Killing Free Speech on Campus

Reason's Robby Soave and Matt Welch discuss the current climate of political correctness among college students.


"The vocal minority of students who actually want censorship—who want to be protected from ideas they don't like—they've always existed," says Reason associate editor Robby Soave. "But in the last five years they have gained institutional power on these campuses."

From microaggressions and trigger warnings, to the shouting down and assault of controversial speakers, the climate on American college campuses have shifted sharply away from the classical understanding of free speech and inquiry that were once the bedrock of higher education.

Soave, who reports on political correctness and on college campuses for Reason, sat down with Reason magazine Editor-in-Chief Matt Welch at Reason Weekend, the annual event hosted by the Reason Foundation, to talk about the state of free speech on American colleges and universities.

Edited by Alex Manning. Camera by Paul Detrick and Todd Krainin

Scroll down for downloadable versions of the video and be sure to subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.