Violence, of course, is a silencing tactic. It is the antithesis of open inquiry and of all the university represents. The question for Berkeley now is whether our commitment to the tradition of free speech extends to the point where we must allow our campus to be used for a publicity circus that has little to do with liberal discourse.

To say that Berkeley is liberal is not to say that all faculty members and students share the same political perspective. Nor does it mean that everyone agrees on how to interpret the First Amendment. It means that the university adheres to a common set of values that allow the practice of open, inclusive and unfettered inquiry. Despite the myriad political perspectives on campus, there is widespread agreement that free speech, including the right to protest, is a fundamental value here.

This academic liberalism has become a stalking horse for both the far right and the far left: The far right accuses us of indoctrinating students into what they call a mind-set of “political correctness.” The far left accuses us of allowing the promotion of ideas, such as intolerance and exclusion, which are at substantive odds with the inclusive principles of the campus community.