The piece recalls a time when commencements drew prominent outsiders and presidents used speeches to advance policy, contrasting that era with today’s campus climate where dissenting views face greater intolerance.

The term “disinvitation season” highlighted by FIRE captures a trend of invitations being rescinded or speakers withdrawing after campus activism, affecting both small liberal arts colleges and large universities.

The article notes the ongoing nature of commencement season, underscoring a need to balance free speech with an inclusive celebration, and cites scholars who argue reasoned argument is essential to truth.

Commencement speeches have become risky events due to protests and petitions, with Morton Schapiro withdrawing from Georgetown Law Center’s May graduation amid student opposition.

Examples of disinvitation and controversy—Bob Kerrey, Salman Rushdie, and Harrison Butker—illustrate a broad pattern of contested speaker selections across institutions.

The trend is framed as part of a broader erosion of campus free speech, where audiences or anticipated reactions act as a heckler’s veto, silencing dissent and turning commencements into exercises in political correctness.

Historical reflections note that earlier leaders spoke without comparable controversy, while voices like Emerson and Harvard’s Drew Gilpin Faust warned against silencing ideas in recent years.