Rest In Peace, Mike Adams

National Association of Scholars

We are saddened to learn of the sudden death of Professor Mike Adams. He was a longtime friend of the National Association of Scholars, a frequent writer for our journal, Academic Questions, and always on call to speak at our conferences, which he did most recently in December.

Although Professor Adams was a criminologist by training his unsung work was that of a freedom fighter. For a decade, Mike Adams was forced to make his institution, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, live by its stated principles of academic freedom. That case, in his own words, “may be the first case in the history of American jurisprudence in which a conservative professor successfully won a jury verdict against a public university over alleged First Amendment retaliation.” Even more historic, his case helped establish that a public employee has a right to speak as a citizen on matters of public concern, and that the case upon which the state had tried to deny his promotion (Garcetti v. Ceballos) did not apply to the service, scholarship, or teaching aspects of a public university professor.

Professor Adams was an outspoken critic of his university, those that would uphold the subjective over objective in scientific study and argument, and well-intentioned movements that ultimately took up radical objectives.

His family and friends are in our prayers. Professor Adams will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace. 

  • Share

Most Commented

January 8, 2025

1.

NAS Condemns the AHA's “Scholasticide” Resolution

The National Association of Scholars condemns the “Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza,” which the members of the American Historical Association passed by 428 t......

January 27, 2025

2.

Exclusive Documents: UC-Boulder Breaks Civil Rights Law to Advance Racial Preferences

New FOIA documents grant a window into how the University of Colorado-Boulder, in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, discriminates on the basis of protected class and upholds a co......

February 13, 2025

3.

The Grown Ups are Back: On Gender, Trump Replaces Confusion and Chaos with Clarity and Common Sense

With this administration, the grown ups are back: Trump is replacing confusion and chaos with clarity and common sense—not just for women’s sports but also for America....

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

May 26, 2010

3.

10 Reasons Not to Go to College

A sampling of arguments for the idea that college may not be for everyone....