Critical thinking and Free Speech at UNL

February 25, 2023

Chancellor Ronnie Green

President Ted Carter

Dear President Carter and Chancellor Green:

I normally wouldn’t write such a letter, but I think it is important for the both of you to know what is going on at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The topic of my letter discusses two major problems in academia today.

Below is a tweet by Prof. Ari Kohen, of your political science department, which he published on February 18, 2023.

@kohenari

Good. Mr. Begley is the embodiment of the absolute worst elements of social media. Before he was blocked by everyone and then finally suspended, he was an aggressive harasser of anyone with whom he disagreed. He has no business ever being anywhere near a position of public trust.

Blocked by everyone? Everyone? If I had used that phraseology in a written assignment for my Creighton University political science professor, the late Fr. John P. Schlegel, S.J. (Oxford doctorate), he would have given me an F. And we were great friends! Fr. Schlegel instructed us in the ways of critical and rigorous thinking. Given Professor Kohen’s writing style, I’m not confident UNL students are getting the same education

As to me being an “aggressive harasser of anyone with whom he disagreed,” I had a vigorous intellectual debate with Prof. Kohen and his wife who was then campaigning for the Omaha City Council. We disagreed about the efficacy of masks in stopping or diminishing Covid. Turns out that critics like me were correct and masks were worthless.

 Opinion | The Mask Mandates Did Nothing. Will Any Lessons Be Learned? – The New York Times (nytimes.com),  https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub6/full

I was suspended from Twitter for using the phrase “We will bury you” as part of a caption contest showing President Biden on a video call with Putin. As everyone knows, that’s an infamous line used by Khrushchev to the West at the beginning of the Cold War.

The final point of his Tweet about me not being “anywhere near a position of public trust” relates to my withdrawal from further consideration for the Power Review Board. Governor Pillen appointed me, but the Unicameral refused to hold a confirmation hearing because Democrat state Senators threatened to filibuster my confirmation on the floor. Environmental groups oppose me because I am a critic of unreliable and expensive solar and wind energy as it will triple our electric rates.

So, rather than see the people’s legislative business grind to a halt I withdrew. Again, this is another example of the Left’s intolerance and cancellation of any opposing views.

If this country loses its tradition of Free Speech, we are in big, big trouble. I learned to appreciate Free Speech during my undergraduate years at Creighton University. Today, it is obvious that any dissenters from the liberal orthodoxy are censored, cancelled and destroyed. As an academic institution, UNL should certainly not tolerate censorship. Free Speech should be encouraged.

All of my higher education was at Creighton University. Although I’m a proud Creighton alum, I’ve come to both admire and appreciate what UNL does for our state; especially in the area of agriculture.

I have one suggest for Chancellor Green. Since you are retiring, I suggest you address the faculty and students on the importance of Free Speech and of open and honest debate. Free speech is one of the bedrocks of our great American university system and it needs to be preserved.

Sincerely,

David D. Begley

Creighton University, BA,’79. MBA. ’97, JD, ‘82

cc: Professor Ari Kohen