University of Tennessee: University Publicly Reprimands Professor for Classroom Comments Deemed Anti-Semitic
Cases
University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Case Overview
closed
On November 1, 2023, the University of Tennessee publicly announced it had reprimanded an unnamed professor for in-class comments UT characterized as anti-Semitic based on the IHRA’s definition of anti-Semitism. On December 8, FIREwrote UT urging it not to use the IHRA definition for assessing what speech is punishable as it risks unconstitutionally sweeping in a substantial amount of protected expression, chilling faculty speech. UT responded on December 21, explaining that Tennessee state law required it to consider the IHRA’s definition of anti-Semitism when reviewing a complaint of anti-Semitic content.