Leftist professor Maura Finkelstein, conservative professor Amy Wax, and the New York Times’ double standard on academic freedom: In the last two years the paper has run four major articles, two on Finkelstein’s controversy and ultimate firing, and two on Wax’s controversy and ultimate suspension.
While these articles contain some nuanced arguments, the headlines and subheads make clear which side the Times is taking -- this radical anti-Israel professor deserves academic freedom, while the conservative professor may need to be fired.
The most recent entry was Sarah Viren’s June 8 cover story for the New York Times Magazine, complete with a flattering photo shoot inside: “A Professor Was Fired for Her Politics. Is That the Future of Academia? -- Maura Finkelstein is one of many scholars discovering that the traditional protections of academic freedom are no longer holding.” Viren cited a Change.org petition demanding Finkelstein be fired for “dangerous pro-Hamas rhetoric” and “blatant classroom bias against Jewish students,” and the professor's post “ISRAEL DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEFEND ITS OCCUPATION.”
Viren made this intolerant activist a free-speech heroine.
….as the Trump administration, in the name of fighting antisemitism, has arrested graduate students and scholars, threatened entire departments and colleges and siphoned support from some of the country’s most prized universities -- her story has taken on the weight of an omen. At the center of the chaos and fear swirling around the administration’s dismantling of the academy is the same question that animates Finkelstein’s case: Will the freedoms guaranteed to professors for generations survive?
Viren also discussed the case of Penn professor Amy Wax (along with Finkelstein, that makes two Pennsylvania-based professors, both at private schools):
Suspended last fall with a pay cut following a yearslong investigation and review by that university’s faculty senate, Wax is often cited by those who argue that universities have become hostile to conservative speech. She was punished, according to Penn’s response to a lawsuit she filed in January, for a history of “flagrant unprofessional conduct,” including saying that the United States would be better off with more white people and that women are less knowledgeable than men, telling a student that Black people are inferior to white people and publicly discussing the grade distribution in her classes based on race….
Times reporter Anemona Hartocollis wrote a previous article on the Finkelstein controversy in October 2024: “Professors in Trouble Over Protests Wonder if Academic Freedom Is Dying -- Universities have cracked down on professors for pro-Palestinian activism, saying they are protecting students and tamping down on hate speech. Faculty members say punishments have put a “chill in the air.”
This paragraph appeared high up:
Visiting scholars, adjuncts and lecturers without tenure have had their contracts terminated or not renewed. Some had their classes suddenly canceled. Faculty members say they have been publicly criticized in ways that have trampled on their reputations and hurt their careers.
Oh no, not public criticism!
Compare those two articles above to two about Wax, University of Pennsylvania law professor, a conservative with a history of controversial statements. In March 2023, the Times ran a concerned article by Vimal Patel, “UPenn Accuses a Professor of Racist Statements. Should She Be Fired? -- Amy Wax and free speech groups say the university is trampling on her academic freedom. Students ask whether her speech deserves to be protected.”
Students get veto power over “academic freedom" when it comes to conservative.profs, apparently.
Patel and Stephanie Saul followed up in September 2024 with “Penn Suspends Amy Wax, Law Professor Accused of Making Racist Statements -- The case tested the limits of academic freedom and tenure.”
(Odd how there were no “limits” regarding Professor Finkelstein’s online behavior.)
The University of Pennsylvania is suspending Amy Wax, a tenured law professor accused of making racist, sexist and homophobic remarks, for a year with half pay. It is a significant sanction but one that falls short of the firing that some students wanted.
