A majority of U.S. college students admit they feel intimidated to disagree with their professors on political and social issues.
The survey, sanctioned by Yale University, shows 54 percent of college students are afraid to express their political beliefs in class. It's something conservative student activists have been saying for years.
“This more scientific study really backs up what they've been telling us and what I've been seeing on campuses around the country,” says Spencer Brown, spokesman for the Young America's Foundation. “It also puts an end to people who claim the free speech crisis on college campuses is somehow overblown.”
McLaughlin& Associates also found about 40-percent of college students believe "physical violence"is a justified response to "hate speech."
“The definition of hate speech just applies to basically anyone who doesn't buy into the leftist orthodoxy, and it's a completely subjective definition and one that we've ended up seeing lead to lawsuits filed by the foundation where schools have tried to shutdown speech they find disfavorable,” says Brown.
“The antifa student groups, they believe that conservative speech and conservative ideas pose an existential threat to their existence, so they've chosen to believe that responding with violence in order to shut down those events is somehow acceptable.”
Brownis hopeful the data can be used to change the toxic atmosphere on other campuses.