March 18, 2005

Protecting Even 'Incendiary' Speech From Censorship

To the Editor:

Thanks to Maurice Isserman for his essay on the importance of preserving academic freedom of speech, written in light of the Ward Churchill controversy ("Who Defines 'Acceptable' Speech?," The Chronicle Review, February 18). I have been watching the story unfold with a growing queasiness over the increasing vulnerability of the marketplace of ideas. ...

As a native New Yorker whose mother worked across the street from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001,