It is vital that we remain exactly what we are: a tolerant society that makes no demand on us but to obey the rule of lawIt used to be much easier. There was a common understanding that a university was a public institution committed to teaching,research and the free exchange of ideas. Freedom to argue and freedom to be challenged were indispensable parts of a university’s DNA. Freedom of speech was the precondition of the discovery of truth. As such, the university was a quintessentially liberal institution, and a cornerstone of an Enlightenment society.
Today,such liberalism is in across-the-board retreat. The concept of a public realm is shrivelling. Those who want to create, say, and public space in modern developments in our cities,uphold the concept of public service broadcasting or defend the concept of the university as a citadel of argument are portrayed as enemies of individual choice, statist interveners, and,worse, tolerant of evil opinions.
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Source: theguardian.com