Saint Xavier University: Reprimand of Professor for Anti-Military Comments

Case Materials

"The Chill Is Nothing New," Greg Lukianoff, The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 9, 2005: Some would like to imagine that the excesses of "political correctness” are ancient history, but repression in the name of tolerance hasn't gone anywhere. Oppressive speech codes are not only still around—they have actually multiplied, even after numerous court decisions declared them unconstitutional.
"Saint Xavier professor defends his right of free speech," Peter Kirstein, Daily Southtown, August 7, 2005: When a university begins to silence speech through suspensions, reprimands and even more draconian actions, it constitutes an abuse of power and creates a chilling orthodoxy on a campus.
"Life After Controversy," Dan Lavoie, Daily Southtown, July 31, 2005: The group's founder and chairman, conservative Alan Charles Kors, said he disagrees with every word in Kirstein's e-mail, but academic freedom shouldn't be a left-right, red-blue issue.
"Saint Xavier U. Suspends Professor for E-Mail Message," Richard Morgan, The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 6, 2002: Saint Xavier University has suspended a professor who called a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy a "disgrace to this country" in an e-mail message that also derided the military's "aggressive baby-killing tactics." Administrators at Saint Xavier had already forced the professor, Peter N. Kirstein, to apologize, and the Chicago university also issued an apology of its own.