Editor's Note: The following statement was signed by more than 100 professors, scholars, writers, and representatives of civic and academic organizations when it was released on April 22. Since then, more than 340 additional signatories have joined. To add your name, please sign here.
Free to Speak: Reforming the Higher Education Act
Intellectual freedom is the anvil on which great debates are hammered out. It is the forge of civilization. It is the fire in which we burn away the fallacies in the raw ore of ideas.
Higher education is the special place in society set aside for the freedom to seek the truth—but that freedom is under assault. In the last two years, there have been nearly 50 attempts to disinvite speakers from college campuses. More than 120 colleges and universities have speech codes that clearly and substantially restrict freedom of speech—frequently in violation of the First Amendment.
Many colleges discriminate against religious and other student groups, preventing them from organizing on campus, withholding funds from mandatory student activity fees, and denying the use of campus facilities.
Coupled with bias response teams, trigger warnings, and safe spaces, these policies teach students to obey the doctrines of political correctness, rather than to search boldly for the truth.
President Trump has taken a crucial first step toward restoring intellectual freedom to college campuses by issuing his executive order “Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities.” His leadership has earned national bipartisan support: 73 percent of the country supports his executive order.
Now Congress and the President must work together to ensure that the Higher Education Act, currently up for reauthorization, builds on the President’s executive order by holding colleges accountable when they do not respect intellectual freedom.
In § 1011a, “Protection of student speech and association rights,” the HEA sets forth the “sense of Congress” that “an institution of higher education should facilitate the free and open exchange of ideas” and that “students should not be intimidated, harassed, discouraged from speaking out, or discriminated against.” It also explicitly protects religious liberty and association—for both students and for religious institutions. But this statutory language has had little effect on what colleges and universities actually do. That’s because the HEA provided no means to enforce the “sense of Congress.”
The Higher Education Act must cease rewarding public colleges for violating the First Amendment. Public institutions with restrictive speech zones and speech codes, discriminatory treatment of religious student groups, and other policies and practices that violate the First Amendment must be stripped of eligibility for federal student loans and grants. The enforcement of such penalties must comply with all existing law.
And private colleges should make all speech and association policies transparent and open to the public, as a condition of eligibility for Title IV loans and grants. Students should be fully informed about private institutions’ speech climates before they choose to enroll.
Members of both parties have expressed concerns that college is too expensive, and much of the discussion around the reauthorization of the HEA has focused on reforming federal student aid. But without intellectual freedom, college is not a good investment. It is an empty forge and a cold furnace, where ideas are left to rust. Other reforms may bring the cost of college down, but we must better protect free inquiry in order to bring the quality of college up.
We call on Congress to cease subsidizing unlawful behavior by public colleges and universities, and to protect freedom of speech on college campuses.
All titles are for identification purposes only. Additional signatories may add their names here.
Peter W. Wood, President, National Association of Scholars
Stanley Kurtz, Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Foundation
Jenna A. Robinson, President, James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal
Matthew J. Peterson, Vice President of Education, Editor of The American Mind, Claremont Institute
Thomas K. Lindsay, Director, Center for Innovation in Education, Texas Public Policy Foundation
Morton C. Blackwell, President, The Leadership Institute
Robert Paquette, President, The Alexander Hamilton Institute
Paul Rahe, Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the Western Heritage, Hillsdale College
Charlie Copeland, President, Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Carrie L. Lukas, President, Independent Women's Forum
Heather R. Higgins, President and CEO, Independent Women's Voice
Charles Kesler, Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College
John Fonte, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for American Common Culture, Hudson Institute
Robert Koons, Professor of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin
Daniel Bonevac, Professor of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin
John C. Eastman, Henry Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service, Chapman University Fowler School of Law
Eunie Smith, President, Eagle Forum
Rick Manning, President, Americans for Limited Government
George W. Dent, Jr., Schott - van den Eynden Professor of Law Emeritus, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Mark Bauerlein, Senior Editor, First Things Magazine, Professor of English, Emory University
Wilfred McClay, Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty, University of Oklahoma
Joy Pullmann, Executive Editor, The Federalist and Education Research Fellow, The Heartland Institute
Keith Whitaker, Chair, National Association of Scholars
Jim Lightfoot, Former Member of Congress
Jenny Beth Martin, Honorary Chairman, Tea Party Patriots Action
F.H. Buckley, Foundation Professor, Scalia Law School at George Mason University
Rachel Fulton Brown, Associate Professor of Medieval History, The University of Chicago
Richard Vedder, Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus, Ohio University
Jay Bergman, Professor of History, Central Connecticut State University
Tim Wildmon, President, American Family Alliance
Brandon Dutcher, Senior Vice President, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
James W. Muller, Professor of Political Science, University of Alaska, Anchorage
B. Nelson Ong, Ph.D., College of New Rochelle
Dr. Carol M. Swain, Former Tenured Professor at Princeton and Vanderbilt Universities
Rachelle Peterson, Policy Director, National Association of Scholars
Sheldon Pollack, Professor, University of Delaware
David R. Legates, Professor, University of Delaware
Jan H. Blits, Prof. Emeritus, University of Delaware
John J. Laukaitis, Associate Professor, North Park University
Harry Power, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University
Christina Jeffrey, President, South Carolina Association of Scholars
Leila Beckwith, California Association of Scholars
Sylvia Wasson, Professor of Foreign Languages, Santa Rosa Junior College
Dwight Lindley, Associate Professor of English, Hillsdale College
George Leef, Director of Research, James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal
Glenn M. Ricketts, Public Affairs Director, National Association of Scholars
Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Founder, The Veritas Forum
William B. Modahl, Alumnus of Dartmouth, Harvard Law, and Georgetown Law
Dr. Tim Daughtry, Author
Jessie Jane Duff , Gunnery Sergeant USMC (ret), Senior Fellow, London Center for Policy Research
Clare M. Lopez, Vice President for Research & Analysis, Center for Security Policy
Allen Roth, President, Secure America Now
Harley Moody, Veterinarian
Colleen Sheehan, Professor, Villanova University
Brian Satterfield, Assistant Professor, Villanova University
Alain Oliver, Executive Director, Love and Fidelity Network
Stephen Napier, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Villanova University
James Matthew Wilson, Associate Professor, Villanova University
Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com
Sandy Rios, Director of Governmental Affairs, American Family Alliance
George Rasley, Managing Editor, ConservativeHQ.com
John McLaughlin, CEO, McLaughlin & Associates
Stella Morabito, Author
Nicholas Capaldi, Legendre-Soule Chair of Business Ethics, Loyola University New Orleans
Svetozar Pejovich, Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University
Bruce Frohnen, Ella and Ernest Fisher Professor of Law, Ohio Northern University College of Law
Jeffrey Ludwig, Retired, NYC Dept. Of Education
Sheryl Kaufman, Retired Corporate Chief Economist
Celeste Barber, English Instructor, retired, Santa Barbara City College
Lady Brigitte Gabriel, Founder & Chairman, ACT For America
Joseph H. Manson, Professor of Anthropology, UCLA
Charles L. Geshekter, Professor Emeritus, California State University, Chico
Daniel Asia, Professor of Music, University of Arizona
Royal Skousen, Department of Linguistics, Brigham Young University
J. Michael Waller, Ph.D., former Annenberg Professor of International Communication, Institute of World Politics
Gene Dattel, author and independent scholar
Marshall DeRosa, Professor of Political Science, Florida Atlantic University
Steven Grosby, Professor, Clemson University
Dennis Saffran, lawyer and writer
Steven H. Frankel, Professor of Philosophy, Xavier University
Andrew Spiropoulos, Professor of Law, Oklahoma City University
James Bradfield, Professor of Economics Emeritus, Hamilton College
Graham Gormley, Adjunct Professor, Villanova University
Stephen Eide, Policy Analyst
Julie Ponzi, Senior Editor, American Greatness
Donald Livingston, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Emory University
J. Christian Adams, President, Public Interest Legal Foundation
Barry Latzer, Professor of Criminal Justice, Emeritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY
Dean Allen, President, FreedomSource University
Ken Masugi, Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, Advanced Academic Programs
Kevin E. Stuart, Ph.D., Executive Director, Austin Institute
EW Jackson, President, STAND Action, Inc.
Deal W. Hudson, Publisher, The Christian Review
Brenda Hafera, Director, International and Continuing Education Programs, The Fund for American Studies
Bob McEwen, Former Member of Congress
Cleta Mitchell, Esq., Foley & Lardner, LLP
Nathaniel Peters, Ph.D., Executive Director, The Morningside Institute
T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr., President Emeritus, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, former assistant to President Reagan for Domestic Affairs
Michael S. Opitz, President, Madison Forum, LLC
Martin J. Burke, Associate Professor of History, Lehman College and the Graduate Center, the City University of New York
Forrest Nabors, Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Alaska Anchorage
S.T. Karnick, Director of Publications and Research Fellow, The Heartland Institute
Additional signatories may add their names here. Email Rachelle Peterson at [email protected] with any questions.
Additional signatories. (We list those with academic and civic affiliations.)
Jonathan Katz, Professor of Physics, Washington University
Hal R. Arkes, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Ohio State University
Jonathan B. Imber, Jean Glasscock Professor of Sociology, Wellesley College
Dr. Kenneth McIntyre, Associate Professor of Political Science, Sam Houston State University
Ernest Sternberg, Professor, University at Buffalo
Robert Gordon, Professor of Sociology (Ret.), Johns Hopkins University
John Broom, Associate Program Director, Graduate History Programs, Norwich University, CGCS
W. Douglas McMillin, Professor Emeritus, Louisiana State University
Catharine Savage Brosman, Professor of French Emerita, Tulane University
Lee Cerling, Associate Professor, University of Southern California
Frank J Gaffney, Executive Chairman, Center for Security Policy
Becky Gerritson, Executive Director, Eagle Forum of Alabama
Patrick Nolan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of South Carolina
Kendall Svengalis, President, New England LawPress
Richard Phelps, Founder, Nonpartisan Education Group
S. M. Hutchens, Senior Editor, Touchstone, Fellowship of St. James
J. Martin Rochester, Curators' Teaching Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri-St. Louis
Gordon E. Finley, Ph.D., Prof. Emeritus of Psychology, Florida International University
Alan White, retired, ADW Assoc.
Martin D. Yaffe, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Texas
Christopher C. Hull, Ph.D., Former Adjunct Assistant Professor, Georgetown University
Gary Thomas, educator
William H. Pound, Ph.D.
Curt Stiles, Professor of Management, University of North Carolina Wilmington
John Gist, Professor of Humanities, Western New Mexico University
Matthew Hickey, Professor, Colorado State University
Peter Myers, Professor, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Paul Cantor, Professor, University of Virginia
Max Hocutt, Retired Professor of Philosophy, University of Alabama
Robert Osburn , Executive Director, Wilberforce Academy
Maarten van Swaay, Emeritus Professor, Kansas State University
Brian R. Van Camp, Retired Judge, Superior Court/CA
Jake Hoffman, President, Rally Forge
Jane Fraser, President, Stuttering Foundation
Richard Halvorson, Retired Priest and University Professor
Teresa S. Collett, Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas
Robert Jeffrey, Professor of Government, Wofford College
David Deavel, Assistant Professor, Catholic Studies, University of St. Thomas
Robert G. Kennedy, Professor of Catholic Studies, University of St Thomas
Larry Ross, Professor of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage
Deborah Savage, Clinical Professor of Philosophy and Theology, University of St. Thomas
Michael Maller, Professor of Mathematics, Queens College of CUNY
Hugh O'Neill, IT Consultant
J. R. Hall, Professor of English Emeritus, University of Mississippi
David B. Frisk , Resident Fellow, Alexander Hamilton Institute
Walter Block, Loyola University New Orleans
Gregory Josefchuk, President, National Coalition For Men Carolinas
D. Brendan Nagle, Professor of History Emeritus, University of Southern California
Jacques du Plessis, Professor, UWM
Stephen Hildrich, retired, Connecticut State Judicial Branch
Jason Jewell, Professor of Humanities, Faulkner University
David Black, Founder, Chairman, President, 2ndVote
Darrell Y. Hamamoto, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Davis
Robert Heidt, Professor Emeritus of Law, Indiana University Mauer School of Law
John Wenger, Professor of Mathematics (retired), Harold Washington College
Michael Bennett, Professor, Curry College
Scott Idleman, Professor, Marquette University
Robert E. Wright, Nef Family Chair of Political Economy, Augustana University
John Robert Renner, Duane Morris LLP
Mark Lee, Professor in Residence and J. Lawrence Irving Senior Distinguished Teaching Fellow, University of San Diego School of Law
Robert Carle, Professor of Theology, The King's College
Bruce Heiden, Professor of Classics, Ohio State University
Paul Bartow, Ph.D. Student, University of South Carolina
C.B. McCorkle, Consultant, Arbonne International
Charles Busbey, Data Analyst, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Kevin M. Moore, Ph.D., J.D. Professor of Music, General Counsel, Onondaga Community College
David Anderson, Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma
Sheldon Hecht, Adjunct Associate Professor, UMUC
John Blough, US Merchant Marine Officer
Steve Grooms, Pastor, Monroe Church of the Nazarene
John B Goodrich, Tonini Farm & Cattle Company
Charles Nickerson, Emeritus faculty, Bridgewater State University
Leon Jones, SmileKeepers Dental
Rosemary Hopcroft, Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Jeanine Kincheloe, Faculty, Sinclair College
Jean Morris, Retired Educator, Fulton County School System
Mary Eames-Rock, Retired language specialist
Paul M. Dowling, Emeritus Professor of English, Canisius College
David Mackey, Engineering Technician, City of Fort Smith
James Donovan, Professor of History, Penn State Mont Alto
Charlotte Sciola, retired district administrator, Saugus School District, MA
Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military Readiness
James Simpson, Investigative Journalist
Mitch Counts, Former Law School Professor, Belmont University
Rev. Dr. Ronald L. Sims, Retired Ordained Minister
Bernard Geiger, Assistant Chaplain, Apostolate for Family Consecration
Jim Windham, Publisher, The Texas Pilgrim
Rick Lott, Professor, Arkansas State University
David Caspary, Retired, Michigan Technological University
Timothy Burns, Professor, Baylor University
James Kahn, Professor, Yeshiva University
Bradley Burchett, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Stephanie D Moussalli, Visiting scholar, School of Accountancy, University of Mississippi
Bernadette Ward, Associate Professor, English, University of Dallas
Kenneth L. Grasso, Professor of Political Science, Texas State University
George Adams, Professor, Idaho State University
J Hunter Brown, Managing Member, Watson Wilkins & Brown, LLC
Ryan P. Williams, President, Claremont Institute
Tejeanne De Milo, Homeschool Educator, Desert Rose Homeschool
Jason D. Hill, Professor of Philosophy, DePaul University
Maimon Schwarzschild, Professor of Law, University of San Diego
Daphne Patai, Professor emeritus, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Board of Directors of FIRE
Asaf Romirowsky, Executive Director, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Yoram Lubling, Professor of Philosophy, Elon University
Juliana Geran Pilon, Senior Fellow, The Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization
Robin Burk MBA PhD, Managing Director, Analytic Decisions2 LLC
Robert Crook, Executive Director, CT Sportsmen
Kevin T. Brady, PhD, CEO and President, Hibernian Global Education Initiative
Beverly Uhlmer, Area Director, Concerned Women for America of Southern Texas
Matthew Spiegel, Professor, Yale University
Paul Fallavollita, President, Greenville 25, Greenville County Republican Party, South Carolina
James E. Moore, II, Professor, University of Southern California, Viterbi School of Engineering, Price School of Public Policy
Jennifer H. Waldeck, Professor, Chapman University
John Craig, President, Craig Farm Historic Preservation Foundation
Alfred K. Siewers, Associate Professor of English, Bucknell University
Alexander Riley, Professor of Sociology, Bucknell University
Chip Weiant, Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute, Center For Civic Character
Michael Uhlmann, Professor of Politics and Government, Claremont Graduate University
George A. Seaver, President, SeaLite Engineering
Laura Haynes, Chair of Research and Legislative Policy, National Task Force for Therapy Equality
Dr. Richard Reeb, Retired college instructor, Barstow College
Lawrence Brunner, Professor, Economics, Central Michigan University
Dwight Hughes, Independent Scholar
Elizabeth Eastman, Ph.D.
Fred Naiden, Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Gladden Willis, MD
Richard Sypher, Retired Professor of English, Hofstra University
David Duval, Alumnus, Princeton University
Gary Smuts, Instructor, University of La Verne
Michael Cutler, Operations manager, Cutler International
Fiorella Weaver, retired educator
Maarten van Swaay, emeritus professor, Kansas State University
Philip Hartley, Design Director, Fjord Design and Innovation
Shelly Kennedy, President and CEO, Shore Cybersecurity, LLC
David Gale, President, Delta Dividend Group, Inc.
Christine Ries, Professor of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology
Alan White, retired from Bell Telephone Labs
James Huffman, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Lewis & Clark Law School
Michael Barton, Prof. Emeritus of American Studies and Social Science, Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg
Malcolm Sherman, Math professor, Univ at Albany, SUNY
Dan Subotnik, Professor of law, Touro Law School
Ben Voth, Associate professor and Director of Debate, Southern Methodist University
John Sparks, Fellow, Center for Faith and Freedom, Grove City College
Mark Fineman, Professor Emeritus, Southern Connecticut State University
Bryan J. Van Deun, EdD, Retired, Doane College
Steven Samson, Retired Professor of Government
William Bedford Clark, Professor, Texas A&M University
Michael Mendle, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of History, University of Alabama
Jonathan Leaf, Playwright, Sheen Center
Randall Roth, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii School of Law
Michelle Peacock, Clinical & Forensic Psychologist
David R. Musher, Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine
Dario Fernandez-Morera, Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, Northwestern University
Anne Burley, Professor Emerita, Towson University Maryland
Anthony Andreoli, Partner/Founder, Tribeca Workshop
Anthony Conte, Attorney
Lani Kirsch, Ph.D, History and Religious Studies
Marc Trachtenberg, Research Professor of Political Science, UCLA
John Droz, Jr., Physicist, Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED)
Lester Brickman, Professor of Law Emeritus , Cardozo Law School
Gary Craig, Retired enrollment VP, University of Delaware
Steve Pejovich, Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University
Sharon Waite Ph.D., Retired professor
David Sweet, Associate Professor of Classics, University of Dallas
David Jeffrey, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Baylor Institute for Studies in Religion, Baylor University
Ron Behling, Adjunct Professor of History, Los Angeles Mission College
D. H. Williams, Professor of Patristics and Historical Theology, Baylor University
Bradley C. S. Watson, Professor of Politics and Philip M. McKenna Chair in American and Western Political Thought, Saint Vincent College
Brian Sirman, Lecturer, Boston University
Byron Johnson, Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences, Baylor University
M. Northrup Buechner, Associate Professor, St. John's University, New York
Thomas G. Dineen III, M.A. (Oxon.), LL.M, Securities Regulator
Additional signatories may add their names here. Email Rachelle Peterson at [email protected] with any questions.