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March 8, 2017
“Opposition to Safe Spaces Not a Fundraising Ploy,” says Zimmer at Opening of New $150m Institute for Free Speech Jeremy Kidman CHICAGO — The University’s new Institute for Free Speech, made possible by a $150 million gift from an anonymous alum, had its formal opening last Thursday. President Zimmer gathered attendees for a ceremonial ribbon cutting in the institute’s atrium, which was adorned by a 60-foot replica of a letter Dean Ellison sent to incoming students earlier in the year. Zimmer then delivered some prepared remarks, describing the institute as being “focused on the research, study, and promotion of free speech not just here in the US but around the world” and emphasizing that the new institute would also have a presence in several of the university’s centers abroad.
President Zimmer went on to thank the anonymous alum whose generous $150 million gift made the institute possible and dismissed rumors that the university’s public stance against safe spaces and trigger warnings was an attempt to elicit donations from older, more conservative benefactors. “The university’s opposition to safe spaces and trigger warnings is wholly consistent with the its longstanding support of free and uncompromising inquiry,” said Zimmer, who then praised the Institute for Free Speech for providing “a locus for scholars to debate the complicated issues surrounding free speech, without fear of interference from opponents of free speech.”
Zimmer then introduced the institute’s inaugural director, Eric F. Hughes, a Distinguished Service Professor in the Law School. Hughes provided an overview of the institute’s upcoming activities for the year, which included a colloquium series to “shine a light on those whose voices have too often been suppressed, including at this very university.” When asked whether the colloquium would invite student organizations focused on issues such as sexual assault, racism, LGBTQ+ rights, or graduate student unionization, Hughes coughed politely and yielded the podium back to President Zimmer, who proceeded to unveil an art installation that projects controversial posts and comments from the “Overheard at UChicago” Facebook group. The installation uses an algorithm called Bayesian Acquisition of Incendiary Texts to select any content that may give rise to heated debates of controversial topics, as these are the kinds of discussions that the Institute for Free Speech aims to encourage and preserve.
After a tour of the institute’s facilities, including a state-of-the art auditorium, multiple collaboration spaces, and a new coffee shop – named the Snowflake Café, Zimmer and Hughes excused themselves to attend the renaming ceremony of Campus North, which will henceforth be known as the Yiannopoulos Residential Commons. The renaming was apparently one of the conditions attached to accepting the anonymous $150 million donation.
