There’s something

toxic

in the climbing

ivy

all the way

to the top

of the higher

education

totem pole.

Three ivies’

presidents

we heard

as defendants

of free speech

on their private

campuses

regardless

of threats—

documented

effects—

of anti

semitic

rhetoric.

No counter

to the hate

expressed.

No one

suggested

context

or debate;

just hate.

Why not

call out

those who

shout

genocide

as a remedy

for 

decades of war?

Unacceptable

admissions

of tolerance

that would

not

be tolerated

if other groups

were targeted.

Free speech

can be

ugly.

But why no

expression

of condemnation?

Isn’t education

supposed 

to develop

the ability 

to envelop

new ideas

and hold

more than

one view

at a time?

This war

in Gaza

has made

the campus

a plaza

for hate.

No longer

a 2 state

solution

discussed,

but disgusting

intentionally

careless

speech

that promotes

violence 

as much

as freedom.

Free speech

can be hateful,

so when grateful

for the right

to verbally smite,

the intention

is inspiration

for action.

And what action

follows

hate?

Legislate?

The lesson

from the Ivy

Presidents’

defences

is that 

the poison

released

is sickening

and could

prove deadly.

It’s not merely

the verbal

venom

spewed,

it’s the silence

ensued

in response

to free speech.