This is an example of Daniel Kahneman’s halo effect going beserk. If you are not stuck in a modern day intellectual silo, this article might sorely disappoint you: “If USC can punish Greg Patton, free speech on campus really is dead.” Professor Patton did not say anything inappropriate. He said a word that sounded like another word that some students said offended them. To summarize, Patton didn’t say an offensive word at all, but he is being punished for saying a Chinese phrase that, to the over-sensitive ears of some students, sounded like an offensive word. USC’s conclusion is that saying a perfectly innocent Chinese phrase in the process of discussing business speech is the moral equivalent of saying a completely different English word with a totally different meaning.

Too many of us are being silent about stupidity in high places. USC is a prestigious and supposedly learned university that is acting deliberately, intentionally and perniciously with regard to Professor Greg Patton. This knee-jerk off-target administrative disciplinary action serves no legitimate purpose and chills speech in classroom filled with elite young adults who are not acting their age or educational level.