Where this was said
Gaza Protests, Faculty Censure, and Surviving the Storm
At 16:06 · chapter starts 14:20
The conversation turns to the most dramatic period of Beilock's presidency: the wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests following October 7th, 2023. While Columbia, Penn, and Harvard saw their presidents ousted, Beilock held her position by doing what she describes as 'calling balls and strikes' — permitting protest, but enforcing clear prohibitions against shouting down speakers or establishing encampments declaring shared campus space for a single ideology. Students knew the rules and the consequences in advance, unlike at many peer institutions. The result was a faculty censure and a student no-confidence vote, neither of which shook her board's support. She points to the payoff in measurable terms: Dartmouth's FIRE free expression ranking rose from the bottom two hundred-something to 35th nationally [1] — Sian Beilock "When Beilock arrived at Dartmouth, it ranked in the bottom 200 for free expression. It's now ranked 35th nationally, with students two stan…" 14:10 , with students scoring two standard deviations above the mean in tolerance for speakers from both sides of the political spectrum.
Dartmouth students scored approximately two standard deviations above the national mean in tolerating speakers from both left and right political perspectives.
The Trump administration sent nine universities a Compact for Academic Excellence offering preferential federal funding in exchange for policy changes. Beilock refused to sign — but rather than fighting, she flew to D.C. to have direct conversations with the Secretary of Education and Congressional members from both parties.
