there have been bitter debates on many college# campuses over who bears responsibility.

This plays into already raging debates# at many schools over free speech and,## increasingly, academic freedom.

Judy Woodruff visited four colleges# in a all fits into America's deep political divide.

It is part of her ongoing# series America at a Crossroads.

PROTESTERS: Racist, sexist,# anti-gay.

Charles Murray, go away!

PROTESTER: It's disgusting.

It's# disgusting.

It's disgustin JUDY WOODRUFF: These are just some of the things# invited guests to college campuses have heard## in recent years, as they were shouted down,# mocked, and otherwise prevented from speaking.

PROTESTER: We have to drown you out.

We're not## here to listen to you.

It's not# JUDY WOODRUFF: In one incident at New# York's Cornell University last year,## conservative commentator Ann Coulter# was met with forceful student protests.

PROTESTER: No KKK, no fascist USA!

JUDY WOODRUFF: Students inside the room with# Coulter repeatedly d WOMAN: Ms. Coulter is going to stop# her speech if we are not able to hear## her.

If you would like to protest,# there is a space to do that outside.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Until she# walked out after 20 minutes.

Nick Weising, the president of# Cornell Democrats and others,## protested outside the law school# where Coulter was speaking.

Did you think it was a good# thing she had been shouted down?

NICK WEISING, President, Cornell Democrats:# Her brand is con need to be very careful about hatred# masquerading JUDY WOODRUFF: But did you think she# should have been allowed to speak?

NICK WEISING: I think that it was pretty immature# the way that people interrupted her spee JUDY WOODRUFF: Armand Chancellor is a member of## Cornell Republicans.

He was in the# room ARMAND CHANCELLOR, Cornell Republicans:# I think it showed at least a dislike## of Republicans more broadly and# conservatives.

Even before she spoke,## there were lots of attacks just# launched at Republicans themselves.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Rebecca Sparacio wrote about## the incident in the student# newspape REBECCA SPARACIO, The Cornell Sun: I don't think# we should be endorsing views that are racist or## sexist or anything like that.

But I do think# it is important to hear all of these because when you are out in the real world,# I think you hear people discussing things## that are not for the good of society.# And you have to learn how to react.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Not all students agree.

According# to recent polling by the Foundation for Individual## Rights and Expression, a nonpartisan group that# tracks threats to freedom of speech, 62 percent of## U.S. college students said that shouting# down a speaker was acceptable to some degree;## 20 percent said using violence to disrupt a# speaking event would be acceptable to some degree.

In recent years, there have been increasing# attempts by students to disinvite or shut down## speakers with dozens of incidents each year.# And Americans across the political spectrum## say they view colleges as unfriendly to# conservative ideas.

Just 20 percent say## they feel that conservatives have a lot of# freedom to express their views on campus,## according to polling done by the Associated Press.

PROTESTER: My grandparents who never learned## incident at Cornell, the students who interrupted# her were sanctio President Martha Pollack announced that freedom# of expression is the theme of this academic year.

MARTHA POLLACK, President, Cornell# University: Free expression is just## critical to everythi JUDY WOODRUFF: Her school is one# of a group of 13 have banded together to highlight# their concern about this issue.

MARTHA POLLACK: I felt that it was a# moment where free expression is just## under attack from both sides of the# political spectrum in it just seemed to me important that# universities like ours take the lead.

JUDY WOODRUFF: There are students# and others who look at Ann Coulter## and look at that message and think# that's not a message that we should## hear.

That's a message of hate.# Why should we have to listen to it?

MARTHA POLLACK: Yes, the problem was# declaring things as hate speech and## putting them out of bounds is, somebody has to# So it's really very dangerous to cede the# right to express your views or that other## person's views to someone else's decision.

And# history has shown us over and over and over that,## when you cede that right, it's# the marginalized groups that lose.

ILYA SHAPIRO, Senior Fellow, Manhattan# Institute: On college campuses in there's not much civil discourse going on at all.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Ilya Shapiro is# a conservative constitutional## scholar who spent many years at# the libertarian Cato Institute,## and was briefly the executive director of the# Georgetown Law School Center for the Constitution.

That job was interrupted almost immediately by# an investigation into a tweet Shapiro wrote just## before he started, when President Biden committed# to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court.

ILYA SHAPIRO: It didn't sit right with# me that President Biden said that he was## restricting his search by race and# sex.

And late at night on Twitter,## not a best practice -- I don't recommend# this -- I fired off what's known as a hot## take before going to bed, didn't# phrase it as I would have wished.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Shapiro says, because this# meant his preferred choice wouldn't be named,## the court would have, in his words,# a -- quote -- "lesser Black woman."

ILYA SHAPIRO: And so we would end up# with someone who was less qualified,## in this case, a less qualified Black# woman.

I didn't phrase and that provoked a firestorm and led# to a four month so-called investigation.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Georgetown# administrators ultimately cleared## Shapiro of wrongdoing on a technicality.# Nevertheless, He now contends that his experience is# representative of a general climate of## fear and censorship on campuses across the nation.

ILYA SHAPIRO: There's a bureaucracy that# has sprung up, particularly the diversity,## equity inclusion offices, that I think foment# an illiberal trend to stifle freedom of speech.

KEVIN BOYLE, American University: I# want you to disagree with me.

I need## you to disagree with me.

I look out of JUDY WOODRUFF: Whether from the right or the# left in response to what virtually everyo agrees is a hyperpolitically conscious# atmosphere on campuses, some colleges are## now taking steps to encourage productive# conversations among students and faculty.

KEVIN BOYLE: And I have to understand your# experiences and you have to understand mine.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The American University Project on## Civic Dialogue created what they call# Disagree KEVIN BOYLE: My position is, we should still keep# that option that a juvenile is tried as an adult.

JUDY WOODRUFF: On a recent Wednesday night,## Professor Kevin Boyle gave a lecture COLLEGE STUDENT: Juvenile sentencing and# juvenile cases are about rehabilitation## and helping kids and juveniles.

But adult prison## is just -- it's like -- it's like a# sentence to nothingness, you know?

JUDY WOODRUFF: American university students we## spoke to had varied opinions on the# Do you feel like, when you finish school and# you're out in the world, that you're going to be## able to have conversations with people who have# profoundly different political views from you?

CHANELLE BONSU, College Student: Yes.

I feel like# I have been exposed so much that when it does come## up again in the future, I'm not going to be shaken# by it or taken back or, like, scared to speak up.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Is there a sense that# students can speak up and speak their mind?

JULIAN WEISS, College Student: Well, I don't# think so.

If you're looking for a job and you're## looking to have a social life, you don't want to# be at the center of a fi JUDY WOODRUFF: Professor Lara Schwartz teaches in# American University's Department of Government.## She founded the Project on Civic Dialogue, which# hosts the Disagree With a Professor sessions,## and she encourages students to engage in dialogue.

LARA SCHWARTZ, American University:# We're in a time when many, many pe instead of coming to conclusions based on inquiry,## check what their team thinks about an issue and# says, well, that's what I think about an issue.

So when you poll students# the overwhelming majority,## up in the 80 percent or more, say, it's# really important to hear fro perspectives, but we don't have a lot# of practice in our society doing that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But even as a number of# campuses, like American and Cornell,## move to confront concerns about limited speech,# there's a growing worry among other schools,## as conservative state governments# are moving in the opposite direction.

Eight states now have laws on the books that# limit what state-run college and university## professors can teach in their classrooms.# Florida's law is the most specific and so## far the most restrictive.

The law S.B.266 makes# it illegal to teach students that systemic racism,## sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent# in the institutions of the United States.

It also restricts funding for any campus# activities that advocate for diversity,## equity and inclusion, or promote or# engage in political or social activism.

SARAH HERNANDEZ, New College# of Florida: We want to be## able to ha JUDY WOODRUFF: Professor Sarah# Hernandez teaches sociology at## the New College of Florida, a public four# year school in Sarasota.

She is al lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the# state of Florida that challenges S.B.266.

SARAH HERNANDEZ: The legislation is# saying that the state has the authority## to dictate what can or cannot be taught in# the classroom in terms of gender equality,## issues of race and ethnic equality, so they# don't allow one to be teaching about activism.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So you have made changes# in what you teach as a result of this?

SARAH HERNANDEZ: The changes that# have made are primarily in informing## the students that what I'm telling them# could be interpreted as being illegal,## but always with a concern that I# just might be fired at any point.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Governor Ron DeSantis took a## special interest in the New# Co GOV.

RON DESANTIS (R-FL), Presidential Candidate:# Some o Theory, other types of DEI-infused courses and# majors, Florida's getting out JU DY WOODRUFF: Igniting protests# when he replaced six members of## the board of trustees with conservative# activists, who fired the coll denied tenure to professors and plan to# phase out the gender studies program.

SARAH HERNANDEZ: We have lost a lot of professors.# They just don't feel safe working here,## and they have no other options.

Similarly, we# have had staff who have -- some of them have## been let go.

And I'm thinking of the dean# of DEI, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Chai Leffler, a student of Professor Hernandez,# is a senior who joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff.

CHAI LEFFLER, College Student: So I am# an urban studies student at New College,## and we no longer have any urban studies# faculty.

And a lot of the urba programming and classes directly challenge# the laws that are currently in place.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Gaby Batista is# a senior who has been organizing## students to protest the changes at New College.

GABY BATISTA, College Student: We have been trying# to go with this tagline, because, in actuality, that's the real fear,# is that we're the canary in the JU DY WOODRUFF: Forty percent# of the New College faculty has## quit since the DeSantis-chosen# board of trustees was installe SARAH HERNANDEZ: It's a very# tense, I think, environment.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For her part, Professor# Hernandez has decided to stay pu SARAH HERNANDEZ: I left my country# of birth many years ago.

There was## some degree of political oppression.

I'm# done running.

I feel t to stand and say, no, I believe in# the importance of academic freedom.

And unless somebody stays and stands# for it, we just might lose it.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For the "PBS NewsHour,"# I'm Judy Woodruff in Sarasota, Florida.