In Defense Of Free Speech

American Political Science Association (APSA):

The American Political Science Association (APSA) condemns the violence surrounding a talk by political scientist Charles Murray at Middlebury College on March 2, 2017, which resulted in an injury to the talk’s moderator, Allison Stanger, the Russell J. Leng ’60 Professor of International Politics and Economics The violence surrounding the talk undermined the ability of faculty and students to engage in the free exchange of ideas and debate, thereby impeding academic freedom on the Middlebury campus.

The American Political Science Association is a scholarly association that represents more than 13,000 U.S. and internationally based professors and students of political science. The Association is committed to upholding the core tenet of academic freedom in the study of political science.

The APSA works to promote scholarly understanding of political ideas, norms, behaviors, and institutions, in order to inform public choices about government, governance and public policy. Necessarily, this can at times involve intense exchanges and debates about ideas and evidence – including ideas or arguments that some consider suspect or wrong. Violence, however, is not an appropriate answer to speech. The Association condemns these violent actions on March 2 and it reiterates its support for peaceful discourse to explore, debate, and challenge speech on the range of issues that matter to our society and political system.

David A. Lake, President
Jennifer Hochschild, Past-President Kathleen Thelen, President-Elect
Steven Rathgeb Smith, Executive Director