Institutional Governance & Accountability

Anemona Hartocollis
New York Times

Excerpt: Maura Finkelstein, an anthropology professor at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, was an avid poster on social media. She called a fund-raiser for the Israeli war effort “students raising money for genocide,” and she frequently ended her posts with the words “Free Palestine.”

Sara Berinhout
FIRE

Excerpt: When the University of Washington encouraged faculty to include a statement in each course syllabus acknowledging that the school sits on land once held by the Coast Salish tribes, computer science professor Stuart Reges decided to express his disagreement.

But when a handful of students and staff complained, the university removed his syllabus from the course website, encouraged students to file complaints against him, siphoned away his students to a newly created second offering of his class to be taught by another professor, and launched a year-long investigation into Reges, an award-winning professor, over allegations that his parody statement was offensive and violated university anti-harassment policy. With FIRE’s help, Reges stood up for his academic freedom.

Matt Taibbi and Racket Staff
Racket News

Excerpt: In his new “FOIA Files” writeup of the 1,400 pages of Freedom of Information documents Racket received from the University of California, Irvine, James Rushmore highlights an extraordinary Academic Advisory Board meeting, convened at the height of the pandemic in December, 2020.

In it, UC faculty members are so angry about academics defying Covid-19 consensus, they start to re-think academic freedom.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/20/opinion/hamas-colleges-free-speech.html?unlocked_article_code=1.T04.MQMi.lC3J1RNGPlWu&smid=url-share

John K. Wilson
Academe Blog

Excerpt: The temptation to regulate free speech in the name of a higher good is a constant danger on the left, and the right. Too often, we ignore how centrist administrators and thinkers endorse censorship too easily, and how much power they hold. I think the greatest threats to campus free speech today come from right-wing legislators and wealthy donors seeking to suppress dissent and anxious administrators willing to silence controversial figures on the left or the right. But even well-intentioned arguments by leftists, conservatives, and centrists alike in defense of censorship help weaken the defense of free expression at a time when we need to make it stronger.

Joseph De Avila
Wall Street Journal

Excerpt: Amy Wax, the Ivy League law professor suspended for making racist, sexist and inflammatory comments, stands to lose half a million dollars from her punishment.

Wax said she doesn’t regret the remarks that led to her reprimand. She is considering taking legal action, she said.