Utah System Head Calls Out Weber State for Censorship

Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner Geoffrey Landward criticized Weber State University’s efforts to censor speakers in the name of state law, KSL reported. 

The university said last week it had revised its approach to enforcing the state’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion law following several censorship controversies. Last month, Apache writer Darcie Little Badger pulled out of a speaking commitment at Weber State after the university sent her a list of prohibited words and concepts, including “bias,” “oppression” and “racial privilege.” In October, the university censored and canceled a conference about censorship. 

“That was frankly just misguided and is contrary to what we’re trying to do with invited speakers,” Landward told KSL. “We’re not banning or censoring certain words or something because that kind of defeats the whole purpose of having viewpoint diversity.”

Weber State was “overly cautious” in its application of the law, Landward added. 

“If it appears like an institution is only seeking to invite one viewpoint, that’s a problem,” Landward told KSL. “But as long as they’re making an effort to bring viewpoints on the campus that present different ideas, that’s what we want to see.”