Jonathan Haidt is one of the most important public intellectuals in America today. If you're not familiar with his work, you need to be. You'll get a chance to hear him when he comes to the University of Virginia February 8 as a guest of The Jefferson Council.

Free speech and open dialogue are the best ways to drive pernicious ideas into oblivion. Sadly for UVA, there is widespread support among professors and students not only for banning ideas they find offensive, but for shaming and shunning those who support the right of people to even hold and express those ideas.

The manner in which partisan and ideological bias at UVA works its effect on students is more complex and nuanced than commonly understood. We'll do our best to give UVA alumni a balanced appraisal.

How many students got shots against their will? How many parents had their concerns overridden? Don’t we all deserve an honest appraisal? And perhaps some heartfelt apologies?

Honor Council members believe in the Honor Code and their efforts are to be commended. But if students are unwilling to turn in offenders, and if the faculty reformats its tests in lieu of prosecuting cheaters, then the "community of trust" does not seem to be working as advertised.

Round and round we go. It may be impossible to bring greater transparency to higher ed at the level of the individual institution. It may require changing state law and taking on the higher-ed lobby in Richmond.

Acting on behalf of The Jefferson Council, Walter Smith has filed a complaint in Henrico County against the University of Virginia, seeking a remedy for its refusal to supply documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

In light of the presidential defenestrations at Harvard and Penn, what should an elite university look for in a president?

Free speech isn't easy, UVA President Ryan has concluded. Neither is being a Jew at UVA these days.