Our university’s new president, David Skorton, seems serious about a commitment to intellectual diversity– something Cornell has been in need of through the past few administrations. His column in today’s Sun is worth reading. Quoting from there:

To stimulate further discussion of this issue at this time on our campus, I propose to the reader four operating principles regarding diversity of perspective at Cornell.

First, we must adhere to the principle that all perspectives and their proponents are welcome on our great university campuses. As I told first-year students during my convocation address in August, nothing will broaden your horizons more than going to hear a speaker whose political view you despise. No speaker should be kept from our auditoria and lecterns unless the immediate consequence of a speech would be a violent act or other lawless behavior. Short of such immediate provocation, no easy line can be drawn to isolate any individual opinions from the greater campus community.

A second principle that must be followed is that no internal perspectives, including those of the faculty, should be suppressed. Whether viewed as liberal, conservative or by any other label, faculty members must not face artificial interference with their presentation of facts, observations, conclusions or implications of any aspect of their disciplines based on perceived balance or imbalance along the political spectrum.

A third principle is that discourse should be civil and non-threatening. Being allowed to make a presentation in a classroom or other forum on a university campus must include the right to complete the discourse. As Columbia University President Lee Bollinger pointed out in response to the disruption of an event on that campus earlier this month, “ … we must speak out to deplore a disruption that threatens the central principle to which we are institutionally dedicated, namely to respect the rights of others to express their views.” Of course, arguments, protests and demonstrations have long been vital features of campus life at Cornell, as well as at universities throughout the United States and in many other countries. But a threatening environment, a campus that does not allow expression of a perspective, no matter how odious to a particular group, is not consistent with the university’s basic purpose of exploration and debate.

Find the rest at the Daily Sun’s website.