Taking the Fight to Higher Ed Leadership
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CounterCurrent: Week of 8/2
Taking the Fight to Higher Ed Leadership
CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ weekly newsletter, bringing you the biggest issues in academia and our responses to them.
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Category: Academic Freedom; Reading Time: ~2 minutes
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** Featured Articles - NAS Pens Open Letters on Behalf of Four Cancelees by Peter Wood ([link removed][UNIQID])
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While the start of the fall semester fast approaches, cancel culture has continued apace without a summer break. The National Association of Scholars’ most recent count ([link removed][UNIQID]) lists 54 cases of academic cancelations, out of which 23 occurred in the last six months. NAS is tracking academic cancelations here ([link removed][UNIQID]) . The rate of cancelation, as well as the scope of ideological infractions that prompt it, have both increased dramatically these last few months.
We have reached a point where, in the vast majority of colleges and universities, any professor, administrator, or student who expresses a viewpoint outside of radical progressive orthodoxy is immediately at risk of retaliation. Some get off relatively easy ([link removed][UNIQID]) , surviving a failed petition for termination and brushing off the inevitable scowls from colleagues and students. Others are not so lucky ([link removed][UNIQID]) and suffer a permanently damaged career, suspension, or even firing for their heterodox beliefs.
But beyond logging cases, what can be done to defend academic freedom in higher education amid its many threats? Colleges and universities have repeatedly proven themselves unworthy of the task among the student body and professoriate—it’s time for others to step in.
One viable avenue is individual advocacy. After punishment, cancelees rarely have the opportunity to fight back—many are at-will employees and therefore lack the ability to pursue legal recourse. Even if they could, colleges and universities can almost always out-lawyer any professor. But what about direct pressure from concerned scholars and administrators?
For years, NAS President Peter Wood has sent letters to college administration on behalf of besieged academics. In this week’s featured articles ([link removed][UNIQID]) , Dr. Wood writes to four higher ed executive administrators who have done nothing to prevent, or have actively participated in, a faculty member’s cancelation. We seek to expose the schools’ and administrators’ malfeasance. Here are the cases:
Kathleen Lowrey - University of Alberta: Dr. Lowrey, a professor of anthropology is a self-described "gender-critical feminist," that is, she does not view biological sex as irrelevant to women's issues as some segments of the LGBTQ movement do. She expressed these views in one of her classes, provoking the ire of her students and colleagues. She has since been terminated, claiming that the university’s decision was based on these views.
In response, Dr. Wood wrote this letter to Steve Patten, Dean of Arts at the University of Alberta ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
William A. Jacobson - Cornell Law School: Professor Jacobson has run a popular conservative blog, Legal Insurrection ([link removed][UNIQID]) , since 2008. During the racialist riots following the killing of George Floyd, Jacobson published two articles criticizing the Black Lives Matter organization. Students promptly created a petition for his termination. Cornell Law School issued its own statement ([link removed][UNIQID]) denouncing Jacobson.
In response, Dr. Wood wrote this letter to Eduardo M. Peñalver, Dean of Cornell Law School ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
David B. Porter - Berea College: Dr. Porter’s case is one of the most absurd. His crime? He dared to develop a survey to gauge views on academic freedom and hostile environments while teaching a course on industrial and organizational psychology. That’s it. The school’s response? Suspension and subsequent termination.
In response, Dr. Wood wrote this letter to Lyle D. Roelofs, President of Berea College ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
Tomáš Hudlický - Brock University: Professor Hudlický's essay "Organic synthesis — Where now?" was published by the prestigious German chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie. In it, Hudlický expresses reservations about preferential hiring on the basis of race and sex in his field. Within a few hours, it became viral on chemistry Twitter. Angewandte removed the article, suspended the two editors who approved it, and denounced Professor Hudlický. Hudlický’s own statement can be found here ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
In response, Dr. Wood wrote this letter to Lynn Wells, Provost at Brock University ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
He writes in the letters:
Colleges and universities these days sometimes give short shrift to academic freedom because their administrators fear they too will be attacked if they do not heed the commands of the censorious activists. They fear for their reputations with this particular group of "stakeholders." We would like to remind them that a greater reputation is at stake: the reputation of their colleges and universities as bodies that protect and nurture free intellectual inquiry and responsible debate.
I’d say that speaks for itself. Until next week.
John David
Communications Associate
National Association of Scholars
Read More ([link removed][UNIQID])
For more on academic freedom in higher education:
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July 28, 2020
** Exclusive: UT Austin Proposes Political Litmus Tests for Hiring and Promotion ([link removed][UNIQID])
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John David
The University of Texas at Austin has proposed the “Faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Strategic Plan," exchanging merit-based success for identity-based diversity.
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July 16, 2020
** An Emeritus Professor Under Siege Once Again ([link removed][UNIQID])
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David Randall
The case of Stuart Hurlbert is a grim reminder that not even emeritus professors are safe from the continual onslaught of heterodox views by higher ed censors.
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July 15, 2020
** The Fight for Freedom Begins on Oklahoma Campuses ([link removed][UNIQID])
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David Randall
The antiracism cultural revolution is pressuring Oklahoma universities to transform further into social justice seminaries.
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June 22, 2020
** Tracking "Cancel Culture" in Higher Education ([link removed][UNIQID])
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John David
We're tracking administrators and professors who have been "canceled" for expressing views considered controversial by the progressive ideologues ruling American higher education.
** About the NAS
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The National Association of Scholars, founded in 1987, emboldens reasoned scholarship and propels civil debate. We’re the leading organization of scholars and citizens committed to higher education as the catalyst of American freedom.
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