A Commencement Speech Isn't Free Speech

I've done hundreds of public talks of all kinds, including after-dinner speeches and keynote addresses for international conferences, and I've watched the whole uproar about commencement speakers being uninvited this past spring with disappointment.



Why? Because the discussion has been so consistently wrongheaded.



One thread that comes up over and over is that students protesting a speaker's invitation interfere with her free speech. That's just idiotic, and completely misunderstands the Bill o...