As the safe space-trigger warning-microagression movement possesses universities across the country, a number of educators remain hopeful that students still long for a challenging education at an institution that allows them to freely exchange ideas.

The Heterodox University Initiative, an effort put forward this week by the group Heterodox Academy, presents open-minded students with resolutions that support freedom of expression, non-obstructive protests, and diversity of viewpoints.

Armed with the proper language, these students can propose resolutions to their student government and vote to institutionalize heterodoxy rather than orthodoxy.

"We think this fall can be very different from last fall," Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist, professor at New York University, and executive committee member of Heterodox Academy, told THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

"Last fall, protests swept the country. College presidents were often taken by surprise, and they gave in to many demands that will greatly limit free speech," he said. "This year, we want to put tools and ideas in place so that there can be a calmer, more open discussion."

Heterodox U's resolutions include a commitment to debate, even if "the ideas put forth are thought by some or even most … to be offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed," as well as a repudiation of protests that verge on an exercise of "obstruction, censorship, and sometimes intimidation" rather than free speech.

It is "too late" to implement these resolutions at schools like Yale, where progressive orthodoxy has been institutionalized, Haidt said. At other schools, change is possible. But it will require students to speak up.

"At present the climate on many campuses is one of fear. Students are afraid to speak honestly because they will be crucified on social media, they will be ostracized if they go against the orthodoxy," he told TWS. "But at many schools, the majority is concerned about orthodoxy and censorship."

"They have no way to make their views known."

A vote that determines whether students want viewpoint diversity will reveal "which schools are politically orthodox and which schools will expose students to a diverse range of viewpoints"—something that, as of now, is not always clear.

"The great majority of Americans are horrified by what happened on campus last year, and they don't want to send their kids to these schools," he said. "We want to make alternatives clear. We want students at the schools to basically vote—do you want free inquiry, or do you want orthodoxy?"

A "marketplace of ideas" is the lifeblood of the academy, Haidt said. If students and teachers argue for their beliefs, rather than conform to dogma, the conclusions they come to will be more useful and reliable.

"When nearly everyone in a field shares the same political orientation, certain ideas become orthodoxy, dissent is discouraged, and errors can go unchallenged," Heterodox Academy's website reads.

It might turn out, after the vote, that students are happy with orthodoxy, or that they like the sound of ideological diversity on paper, but not in reality.

For them, there is a simple solution.

"They shouldn't go to college," Haidt said.