Commentary: Virginia Tech’s Bias Response Team and the First Amendment

Kathryn Palmer
Inside Higher Ed

Excerpt: Some faculty members at Indiana University at Bloomington fear academic freedom on their campus is under attack by a local congressman reacting to claims of antisemitism among some members of the student government association.

The lawmaker, U.S. Representative Jim Banks, a conservative Republican and evangelical Christian who is running for U.S. Senate in 2024, has asked the university’s president to address allegations of antisemitism on campus related to the Israel-Hamas war or potentially risk losing federal funding

Donie O'Sullivan and Clare Duffy
CNN

Excerpt: A nationally recognized online disinformation researcher has accused Harvard University of shutting down the project she led to protect its relationship with mega-donor and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The allegations, made by Dr. Joan Donovan, raise questions about the influence the tech giant might have over seemingly independent research. Facebook’s parent company Meta has long sought to defend itself against research that implicates it in harming society: from the proliferation of election disinformation to creating addictive habits in children. Details of the disclosure were first reported by The Washington Post.

Nick Iannelli
WTOP News

Excerpt: During a free speech summit at the University of Virginia this past week, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he was “extremely worried about the state of our college and university campuses.” In attendance at the summit were representatives from every public college in Virginia along with leaders from numerous private schools.

Representatives from the various colleges and universities at the event drafted plans to support free speech in a more proactive way, and those plans are expected to be reviewed by Virginia’s education secretary.