Audrey Unverfeth and Evita Duffy never wanted to see anyone else have to endure the level of victimization they feel they have.
“We wanted to cancel the cancellation,” Unverfeth told Campus Reform of the reason behind the two University of Chicago students moving to launch the Chicago Thinker as a balancing act to the so-called cancel culture. “We both chose to attend the university because of its purported commitment to free speech. I found despite its great commitment on paper to free speech it really isn’t free because there are extraordinary social consequences to speaking out.”
Fueled by a motto of 'outthinking the mob,' Duffy said over time the web site has become seen as their only line of defense.
“To outthink the mob is really a pushback against the campus narrative of groupthink,” she said. “While everyone is on one side of the political aisle, it starts to sound like an echo chamber and they silence people who dare to think differently, which ends up being a lot of conservatives and libertarians.”
Since launching last October, the web site has quickly taken hold, landing interviews with the Wall Street Journal and Fox & Friends.
“It’s just time to speak up,” said Unverfeth, who serves as the editor-in-chief.
Duffy, the managing editor, agrees, but knows there is still much work to do.
“You can’t have free speech unless the culture of free speech is there,” she said. “We’re here to push a culture of free speech not just have a statement.”
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