After protest chaos, universities need to teach kids about real free speech — not about misgendering

Wondering why Columbia protests devolved into chaos? Because the students have no idea what free speech is.

Hint: Tents are not it.

It’s time for Columbia, and every school around the country, to roll out a free-speech orientation.

The lesson plan is simple. Posters, chanting, protesting? Good. Heckling, damaging property, camping on the quad? Bad. And those tactics can result in suspension, expulsion, or even arrest.

Considering Columbia’s new-student orientation harps on how not to misgender your classmates or accidentally offend them with jokes, a session on free expression is surely overdue.