July 14, 2000

Do Speech Codes Promote Political Correctness at the Expense of Academic Freedom?

To the Editor:

Daphne Patai's assault on harassment policies and speech codes rests on glaring misunderstandings of both federal law and academic freedom ("Speak Freely, Professor -- Within the Speech Code," Opinion, June 9).

First, lamentable as it is, the language of federal law effectively defines harassment as behavior that anyone finds offensive or intimidating. This language is not a contribution of the academic left, as Patai charges, and

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