Table of Contents
Social Work Injustice on Inside Higher Ed
Today’s Inside Higher Ed carries an article covering the ADF’s lawsuit against Missouri State University for its outrageous, ideologically based treatment of social work student Emily Brooker. The case, which was covered by our own Luke Sheahan in a blog yesterday, involves, among other things, Brooker’s being forced to write a letter to legislators supporting a political policy with which she disagreed. This is very similar to the case of social work student Bill Felkner at Rhode Island College, who was also forced to lobby the state legislature for a policy that he didn’t really support.
Those who follow FIRE’s work, of course, weren’t surprised to see these abuses happen in social work schools. Last week, FIRE wrote to the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) about the political litmus tests endorsed by the Council for Social Work Education (CSWE)—the accrediting body for schools of social work. HHS social workers must have a degree from a CSWE-accredited school—and CSWE-accredited schools must evaluate students on their dedication to “social and economic justice,” which are undeniably controversial issues. Neither Bill Felkner nor Emily Brooker fit in with the mainstream of students at their schools of social work when it came to those issues. Is it a coincidence, then, that they were the ones punished for their beliefs?
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.

Twitter removes ‘Trans Day of Vengeance’ posts in another loss for free expression on the platform
Blanket bans on words and images with no regard to context shuts down conversations about important issues of public concern.

Wayne State professor suspended after provocative Facebook post criticizing shout downs
Wayne State University Professor Steven Shaviro used his personal Facebook account to criticize protestors who shout down speakers with purportedly bigoted views.

A step in the right direction: West Virginia Governor signs ‘New Voices’ bill into law
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed the Student Journalism and Press Freedom Protection Act into law, granting statutory protections to student journalists in public K-12 schools and public institutions of higher education.

Cornell must reject student government’s call for trigger warnings
Cornell University’s student assembly adopted a resolution urging the administration to require faculty to provide content warnings prior to discussing potentially “triggering” material in the classroom.