William Wang: I’m curious about the founding of the Buckley Institute. What led you to start Buckley, and who were some of the people that helped you along the way?
Lauren Noble: I had been thinking of starting some kind of speaker series to bring diversity of thought to Yale’s campus as an undergraduate. In the fall of 2010, my senior year, Yale had a residential college seminar on William F. Buckley, Jr. and the rise of modern conservatism. It was that class that inspired me to name the speaker series after Buckley.
Then in 2011, a couple of my friends and I started planning some events and held about a half dozen events that first semester. Eventually, we applied for and got 501c(3) status. Things really started to take off from there. The reason to start it was really just the lack of intellectual diversity on campus, both in terms of the faculty and the other speakers that were invited to campus. And we thought that having this speaker series could be a modest way to address that problem.
WW: Yale has been over the headlines these recent years, namely for its students shouting down controversial speakers. Was that as prominent back then, or was it more just the lack of ideological diversity that prompted you to start Buckley?
LN: I don’t think issues of cancel culture were as prominent then, but there was this real lack of intellectual and political diversity. That’s what really inspired the program. Over time, these issues of free speech started to become more central to our mission. We had an event in 2014 with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which led to efforts by some campus groups to have that event canceled. Despite denying those requests, our event ended up going very smoothly. There were over 400 people in every seat of SSS (Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall) 114. There were students lined up down multiple blocks trying to get a seat. So hundreds of students were not even able to get in. There were a few protestors there handing out pamphlets—which is their right—but the event went great.
It was actually that event that inspired the idea for the Disinvitation Dinner, an annual event that hosts a speaker who has been disinvited or shouted down for their “unorthodox” views. In 2015, the whole Halloween controversy at Yale happened. We had actually planned our annual conference months in advance to be on the topic of the future of free speech. That conference ended up being held the day after that incident in the Silliman courtyard. There ended up being a protest outside of our conference in response to some comments made by a speaker at our conference. Since 2015, because of these free speech issues on campus, student interest in Buckley has really increased. I think the number of student fellow applications the following semester in 2016 doubled. Now we have 623 student fellows. But I think in 2016 was around the 100s. That number has increased every year since.
I would definitely say the 623 student fellows give me a lot of hope. I mean, that’s nine and a half percent of the undergraduate population, which is amazing. It’s terrific that not all of those students are center-right. In a recent survey we did of the student fellows, there was a pretty good political mix. I mean, it was 25% conservative, 25% moderate, 15% classical liberal or libertarian, 18% progressive, and then a handful of others. That’s an encouraging sign that students of all political stripes are seeking out intellectual diversity. Whether they agree with the speakers or not, they’re at least wanting to be exposed to ideas that they might not otherwise be getting in the classroom.
The one aspect that I do find concerning is that of the 623 students who are members of Buckley, I’ve heard a number of them say, “one of the reasons I’m joining Buckley is because it’s a place where I can speak more freely than elsewhere on campus,” or “I’m not getting any of these ideas elsewhere on campus.” That’s a sad statement about what the reality of campus life is otherwise. But so long as that’s the case, I’m glad that Buckley is there and can perform that service for the Yale student body. If you look at national data about what students think about free speech, you’ll see plenty of reasons to be concerned considering some of the things happening on campuses today—particularly widespread self-censorship. Still, it is encouraging that when you offer intellectual diversity, students are actively seeking it out.
WW: I do want to trace back to that in just a moment. But before that, I am still curious about the history of Buckley. Are there any specific people that you want to acknowledge for helping you start Buckley?
LN: Professor Donald Kagan was a very important advisor to us from the very beginning. He was our founding faculty advisor and a fierce advocate for free speech on campus. The professor who taught the Buckley seminar, Alvin Felzenberg, was helpful in talking about the idea of starting the organization. Also, I wasn’t the only student involved in this. I was the founder, but I had some friends who were involved in helping get this off the ground.
I also want to acknowledge the other early members of our board of directors. For example, Bill Buckley’s older brother, Jim Buckley was actively involved since Buckley’s inception. Having people like him and Professor Kagan involved from the beginning gave some credibility to what we were doing. And then I would say there were also Yale alumni—the ranks of which have been increasing—who have been supporting us. But they were people who, early on, recognized the value of what we were doing. My family has always been supportive of me too, especially my husband.
In the first couple of years of Buckley, we had nowhere near the resources that we have now. Fortunately for us, Bill Buckley had a lot of friends and good relationships. When people saw the name Buckley associated with this, that got them interested too.
WW: I’m thinking back to your writing for the Wall Street Journal when you spoke out against compelled speech by faculty and students. Some make the argument that since we shouldn’t compel people to speak, we shouldn’t compel people to listen as well. So that’s where they advocate for things like trigger warnings, in order to not compel people to listen to sensitive subjects. What do you make of that?
LN: In terms of speakers and events that Buckley hosts, students are not required to go to those events. If there’s an event that offends a student or they’re not interested in that topic, they are free to not go. Not only that, they’re also free to host events of their own. I mean, the great thing about being at a place like Yale, is that you can start an organization to try to address what you think is missing.
But while someone shouldn’t be forced to attend events that they don’t want to attend, they also should not be disrupting speakers. There’s a speaker’s right to be heard, but also the audience’s right to listen.
WW: Since Buckley has invited a lot of speakers across the political spectrum, is there someone who has perhaps changed your mind on something?
LN: Because there have been so many of these events, it’s difficult to just choose one. But I would say I really like the debates because you get to hear two different perspectives. Often, it can draw out the nuances of different issues.
WW: Did you expect Buckley to get to where it is today when you were a senior in 2011? And where do you see Buckley perhaps another ten years from now?
LN: I definitely did not expect that Buckley would get to where it is now. I never imagined that we would have 623 student fellows. That’s certainly beyond my expectations. I could not have imagined 157 programming hours and 69 events in one year. As for the next 10 years, we’re doing a lot of planning and brainstorming for what happens next. But I think we’ve really grown far beyond the modest speaker series that I envisioned back when I was a senior.
WW: Do you see Buckley influencing other universities or expanding in scope otherwise?
LN: Over the past year or two, I’ve gotten more and more inquiries from students, faculty, and alumni from other universities, looking at Buckley as a model for what they would like to do. So I’ve been having a lot of Zoom calls and phone conversations. It’s been encouraging to see people at other schools trying to do something about this issue on campus. So that’s where we are right now in terms of just trying to advise groups that ask. I do think that there are things in our model that can be replicated elsewhere. But we’re not on the path to chapters or anything like that just yet. But we’ll see what the next decade has in store for Buckley. It’s all very exciting.
WW: Indeed! Thanks, Lauren.
LN: Thank you!