A tension exists on college and university campuses across America today concerning how to pursue liberal, rational, open learning and, at the same time, celebrate a spirit of academic community--in short, how to exercise free expression and maintain civility. In this article, the author begins with an exploration of the boundaries of free speech,…

"Intellectual community" as commonly used is based on a notion of intellectual commonality. However, the liberal arts college has become more diverse. Until higher education can offer some models for combining the values of diversity, it ought not to promote the conventional ideal of intellectual community, which favors some values over…