Student leaders at New York University are urging the university to reconsider having Jonathan Haidt deliver this year's commencement address, saying his views do not reflect the values of the graduating class.
Haidt, the bestselling author of The Coddling of the American Mind, has argued that universities often shield students from uncomfortable ideas and discourage open debate.
The dispute has drawn attention because Haidt is one of the country's most prominent critics of cancel culture and ideological conformity on college campuses.
The Executive Committee of NYU's Student Government Assembly sent a sharply worded two-page letter to university leadership expressing its 'profound disappointment' over the decision to have Haidt address the Class of 2026 at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.
The committee said the choice was 'deeply unsettling' and 'clearly undermines the University's stated values.'
'The abrupt derailment from this trend is not merely anticlimactic; it is a regression,' the letter states, contrasting Haidt with past commencement speakers including Taylor Swift, Sonia Sotomayor, Molly Shannon and Sherrilyn Ifill.
Student leaders accused Haidt of making remarks they characterized as homophobic, spreading 'public misconceptions about transgender identity,' and advancing criticism of antiracism, social justice and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The letter also dismissed Haidt's 'In Real Life' initiative, which encourages students to put down their phones and engage face-to-face, as 'reductive and oblivious to far more pressing matters than digital distraction.'
New York University student leaders are urging the university to reconsider its decision to have Jonathan Haidt deliver the 2026 commencement address
Editor of NYU's student newspaper Mehr Kotval described Haidt as an 'anti-woke author who has consistently patronized student activists' and circulated a petition urging the university to restore live student speeches
Jonathan Haidt, author of The Coddling of the American Mind, is a prominent critic of cancel culture, though student leaders insist they are not trying to silence him
The students insisted they support academic freedom, but argued that Haidt 'is not the appropriate individual to address the Class of 2026.'
They wrote that many students had expressed 'disappointment, disgust, unenthusiasm, defeat, and embarrassment,' saying what should have been a celebration had 'instead become another instance of being misunderstood.'
Student leaders said they are not trying to silence Haidt.
'I don't think that students saying that the speaker doesn't represent our values is the same thing as students being incapable of hearing opposing viewpoints,' Grayson Stevenson, the outgoing sophomore class president, told The New York Times. 'Those are two very different things.'
In an opinion column for NYU's student newspaper, senior editor Mehr Kotval described Haidt as an 'anti-woke author who has consistently patronized student activists' and called his selection 'a last parting gift of disrespect.'
Kotval also circulated a petition urging the university to restore live student speeches and encouraged graduates to consider walking out during speeches by NYU President Linda Mills and Haidt.
According to The New York Times, NYU has no plans to reverse course.
Haidt, a professor at NYU's Stern School of Business, is one of the country's most prominent critics of cancel culture and ideological conformity on campus.
In The Coddling of the American Mind, which he co-authored with Greg Lukianoff, Haidt argues that schools have cultivated a mentality of fragility by shielding students from upsetting ideas and difficult experiences.
Grayson Stevenson, the outgoing sophomore class president, said the effort was not meant to silence Haidt, telling The New York Times that opposing a speaker does not mean students are unwilling to hear opposing viewpoints
Taylor Swift delivers New York University 2022 Commencement address at Yankee Stadium on May 18, 2022 in New York City
TV financial journalist Maria Bartiromo, US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and NYU President John Sexton attend the 2012 New York University Commencement at Yankee Stadium on May 16, 2012 in New York City
Supporters said the uproar only underscores the concerns Haidt has raised for years.
Pamela Paresky, a psychologist who helped research The Coddling of the American Mind, told The New York Times that Haidt is careful to consider opposing views.
'He's always been very good about reflecting both sides and steel-manning the argument,' she said.
Haidt also has supporters on campus. Hannah Swartz, a graduating senior who studied psychology, told The New York Times that he helped her start a student group focused on bridging divides.
In a LinkedIn post last week, Swartz said she met with Haidt a year ago to pitch a club centered on 'unplugging and building human connection' after reading his book The Anxious Generation.
'It's not that he's blaming our generation for the way we are,' she told the Times. 'He's trying to empower us with the skills to go out in the world.'
The dispute comes after years of battles over free speech and campus activism at NYU, including tensions surrounding pro-Palestinian protests and restrictions on student expression.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Haidt and the Student Government Assembly for comment.