Voice Staff
On Sept. 3, Eve Darian-Smith, founding chair and professor of global and international studies at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), visited The College of Wooster to deliver a lecture titled “Contemporary Attacks on Academic Freedom: Historical and Comparative Perspectives.” Her talk was part of the College’s new three-part lecture series, “Democracy and Academic Freedom: A Forum,” which will run through Oct. 15. The series is supported through the College’s philosophy department and the Office of the President.
The lecture opened with President Anne McCall recounting the College’s history of promoting academic freedom. She then outlined Darian-Smith’s work as an award-winning interdisciplinary scholar and promoted her new book, “Policing Higher Education: The Antidemocratic Attack on Scholars and Why it Matters.”
Darian-Smith’s talk explored the rising pressures on higher education, the global networks of authoritarian influence and various ways that students can respectfully engage in activism. She began by examining the challenges facing universities today and comparing them to similar events throughout the 20th century. According to Darian-Smith, protests and expressions of dissent weren’t unprecedented in the 20th century, but more stringent administrative and legal frameworks today present unique challenges for student protests.
“The rules around campus protest exist, but they are being enforced more aggressively than before,” Darian-Smith said. She encouraged students to understand these rules and engage safely and responsibly.
Students were able to ask both Darian-Smith and McCall questions in a Q&A session following the lecture. Zoe Martin ’29 asked if the College had been largely affected by the defunding of research within higher education. McCall shared that while some grants were pulled, “as an undergraduate college, [Wooster is] touched by that less than larger or wealthy research universities — where we have more vulnerability for funding is student financial aid.”
McCall herself posed a question to Darian-Smith, asking “is it really about us at all? Because you had the list of 10 things that need to be muzzled in order to create the autocratic state — but what about those nine other things? The fight against the areas of knowledge that so many of us care about is real, but is it even really about that?”
“We’re just one front in a much larger system of potential oppression,” responded Darian-Smith. “This is a much bigger problem. It’s about whether one can get the polio vaccine for your newborn baby, it’s about whether you do have access to fresh fruit and vegetables — that fruit is not being picked, it is rotting because all the migrant workers are hiding from ICE. It’s really part of one connecting dot into a whole system of increasing oppression that we have to be very very aware of.”
Lucia Johns ’26 asked about the role institutions have in protest and complicity. “How much responsibility do administrators have to listen to and support their students and what should students do when the administration is valuing its economic stability over free expression and progress for its students?”
Darian-Smith reflected on the necessary element of balance in decision making and the difficulty of balancing the continuity of an institution with other methods of protest like marching, as a means of creating impact and finding “the way forward.” She reiterated her support for typical methods of protest like marching. “If things are done with civility, respect, nonviolence and so on, I think you should protest. That’s often a conversation between a campus community.”
Scot Council President Flynn Cowie ’26 asked about Darian-Smith’s own experience in the wake of UCI’s recent clash with protesters and the aftermath of UCI’s ongoing enforcement of protest policy, asking if she “believe[s] that those policies exist as an attack on just academic freedom or free speech together,” and if “these measures [are] useful in any sense or are they rather buckling under the pressure?”
Darian-Smith explained the nuance surrounding the situation and the fear created by the new protest policy, stating her belief that protests would not be happening as often going forward. “Students don’t want to get arrested,” she shared. “[The policy enforcement] creates a chilling effect.”
The conversation shifted to global authoritarian networks when Will Laubacher ’26 asked about cooperation among authoritarian leaders and the influence of wealthy figures like Elon Musk. Per Darian-Smith, political leaders often communicate and share strategies behind the scenes.
According to Darian-Smith, campaign strategies and political messaging often cross borders, reinforcing authoritarian practices worldwide. “There is a great deal of dialogue between Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán and Trump, between Putin and Trump and between [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi and Trump,” she said.
She stated that these alliances are driven by both power and economic interests. “The merging of capitalist and political influence is a great synergy,” Darian-Smith said. “Billionaires, corporate leaders and political elites often reinforce one another, amplifying authoritarian strategies.”
Some audience members also asked about navigating fear in activism. Darian-Smith advised that students should never put themselves in unsafe situations. “If you feel personally threatened, step back,” she said. She advised that students “cannot participate safely if [they] are in danger. But [they] can still support change in thoughtful and responsible ways.”
A recording of the talk is available to view on YouTube. The next installment of the Democracy and Academic Freedom will be hosted on Wednesday, Sept. 17, in Gault Recital Hall in Scheide Music Center. Further installments will also be livestreamed and available to view on YouTube.
