Two recent essays sparked renewed debate about free speech and ideological division on campuses. Reader responses to a Harvard guest essay argued many universities still fail to protect open discourse, while a separate opinion interrogated whether higher education itself is fracturing civic consensus and examined remedies for illiberalism. Both pieces prompted discussion among faculty and administrators about policy, pedagogy and governance. They reinforce active fault lines in faculty governance, student conduct codes and curricular design, and signal likely pressure on provosts and deans to clarify free-speech standards, adjudication processes and faculty development programs.