Fire statement on University of Pennsylvania sanctions against Amy Wax

M.J. Koch
The Free Press

Excerpt: At The Spence School, a tony all-girls private institution on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Anne Protopappas was larger than life. “Bonjour!” she’d smile to students, wearing her quintessentially French red lipstick with Plato tucked under one arm and croissants in the other to offer her next class.

But in February, she was fired. Unable to find another teaching job, she is suing the school, its trustees, and its two top officials, Head of School Felicia Wilks and Director of Teaching and Learning Eric Zahler. Protopappas’s firing stems from a May 2023 incident that took place in her Advanced French class, which was being taken by eight Spence seniors. Out of the blue, according to the complaint, one student asked, “Why did France ban the hijab?”

Peter Berkowitz
RealClearPolitics

Excerpt: Like all rights-protecting democracies – and especially as a 21st-century great power with globe-spanning interests – the United States requires a host of highly-trained individuals to keep its government functioning, military operating, economy churning, and civil society thriving.

When true to its mission – transmitting knowledge, invigorating the moral imagination, cultivating independent thought, fostering toleration and civility – liberal education serves the public interest by making experts of all sorts more informed, thoughtful, and judicious. When it betrays its mission – indoctrinating, administering political litmus tests, encouraging a haughty self-regard among those who toe the party line, and mocking and punishing dissent – liberal education subverts the public interest.

Natalie Schwartz
Higher Ed Dive

Excerpt: The House passed a bill Thursday that would limit restrictions public colleges could place on campus protests and bar accreditation agencies from requiring institutions to comply with diversity, equity and inclusion standards.

Higher ed groups took aim at several provisions of the bill, which would require colleges to adopt new free speech policies to access Title IV federal financial aid. For instance, the bill would require public colleges to provide students with a written statement during orientation explaining their free speech rights. It would also limit the restrictions public colleges could place on protests in “generally accessible” areas on their campuses.