A newly reported document shows how a faculty committee analyzed Wax’s speech and teaching outside normal channels, conveniently allowing Penn to sidestep the academic freedom standards that protect controversial faculty expression.
Institutional Neutrality is the idea that colleges and universities should not, as institutions, take positions on social and political issues unless those issues “threaten the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry.” Instead, these discussions should be left to students and faculty.
The University of Wisconsin System terminated long-time chancellor of the UW-La Crosse campus, Joe Gow, after discovering his involvement in the adult film industry.
UT Austin removed two graduate students from teaching assistant roles for providing campus mental health resources and discussing the mental health impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” may offend some listeners, feeling offended is hardly adequate cause to circumvent First Amendment protections for freedom of speech.
As confidence in higher education reaches historic lows, now is the time for campus leaders to return to first principles and re-establish their institutions as communities devoted to the discovery, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge.