After years of feeling unheard in his political beliefs throughout U-High spaces, Oliver Wilson decided to take action this spring. He created a website, called Lab Liberty, with a goal of exposing students to political perspectives that are less common at U-High.
“I think U-High — from an administrative perspective — has a great free speech policy,” Oliver, a junior, said. “It’s just that people are too scared to say anything. And people sometimes are actually told not to by other students. And people learn not to say anything by seeing the experiences that others before them had been met with. So that’s what I was trying to combat with the website, and promote free ideas.”
Some students said they found U-High to be a difficult place to express views that may not align with their classmates’ beliefs. While students said they did not feel that the school’s rules explicitly barred them from expressing their views on political or social issues, they still sometimes limited themselves because of widely understood expectations, even in classroom discussions about literature or history.
“I feel like a lot of times people — including myself — kind of just go with what’s generally being said,” Ava Cohen, a junior, said.
Leila Battiste, a senior, said that she has also perceived a problem of students feeling intimidated to share a perspective that diverges from popular opinion. She’s noticed that a lot of that pressure comes from other students.
“It’s very easy for me to speak out and be loud about my beliefs,” Leila said. “But in reference to the school as a whole, it’s definitely suppressing when there is a majority voice and you are not part of that voice.”
Leila said she thinks that the fear of speaking out is a significant issue throughout the student body.
“It can definitely be very intimidating for a lot of people to speak up and actually say what they feel because they don’t want to be looked at as maybe pro-activism or pro-woke or just extra. A lot of people are intimidated by standing up for what’s right,” Leila said. “And I think that needs to change.”
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It can definitely be very intimidating for a lot of people to speak up and actually say what they feel because they don’t want to be looked at as maybe pro-activism or pro-woke or just extra. A lot of people are intimidated by standing up for what’s right. And I think that needs to change.
— Leila Battiste, senior
The University of Chicago has described its own policy as one that promises to permit free speech and free expression on campus. In 2014, a faculty committee wrote a set of “Chicago Principles,” which lay out the idea that the university is committed to “free, robust and uninhibited debate.” The philosophy, which has since been adopted by numerous colleges, is aimed at permitting all views to be heard without being swayed by whatever the political winds of a given moment may be.
Some students said they were troubled enough by a sense that all perspectives are not welcomed at U-High that they looked for ways to change that.
Oliver said that in some settings at U-High, students are quick to criticize unpopular viewpoints. This, he said, can discourage people from speaking up.
“I used to visit the Political Discourse Club pretty frequently,” Oliver said. “And there, I was kind of met with this same sentiment. There was some constructive argument happening, but for the most part, it was just yelling, and people trying to shut other people down they didn’t agree with.”
A pressure to avoid offering views that might not match a generally accepted perspective does not come exclusively from other students at school, some students said. They said adults can play a role, even unintentionally, leaving some students to avoid speaking freely.
“From the teachers and adults — they also project a lot of their beliefs and how they teach,” Leila said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. But it definitely can intimidate students. For example, in history, if we’re talking about a certain presidential candidate, if another student is not for that candidate, they can have a hard time speaking up about it, or feeling comfortable in that class.”
Leila, who has been involved in efforts to support Palestinian people with a bake sale and by participating in a demonstration at the University of Chicago, said she understands how volatile and complex the debate over the war in Gaza has become — and why that issue has raised so many intensive questions about free expression in this moment
“There’s a lot of stigma around pro-Palestine. There’s a lot of rhetoric that, you know, being pro-Palestine is antisemitic,” Leila said. “A lot of students are afraid to speak out about their beliefs within that field.”
Leila said she thinks addressing the situation more head-on at Lab would make people more comfortable to share their perspectives.
“I think definitely, instead of shying away from it and generalizing it, we need to actively take a deeper look into these problems to ensure that everyone at the Lab feels safe and supported,” Leila said.
To Oliver, the idea of truly welcoming all speech at U-High would come only with a significant change in mindset.
“I like to encourage students to be more open-minded and not just look to call a certain viewpoint hateful, but rather, understand it for what it is — its intentions – because most people aren’t really trying to be racist or hateful,” Oliver said. “And I think once we start understanding each other more, we can have a more productive dialogue.”