Faculty Open Letter Library
FIRE has seen an alarming increase in attempts to professionally sanction scholars across the nation for speech that is – or in public settings would be – protected by the First Amendment. Join hundreds of faculty in defending the academic freedom rights of academics being unfairly punished or sanctioned by their universities.
Browse Letters
Faculty Letter in Support of Stephen Kershnar, February 4, 2022
SUNY Fredonia suspended Stephen Kershnar, a tenured professor of philosophy, in response to public outcry over comments he made on a philosophy podcast in which he discussed his scholarship on the ethics of sexual activity between adults and children.
Faculty Letter in Support of Ilya Shapiro, January 31, 2022
Georgetown University suspended Ilya Shapiro, who had recently been hired as executive director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, after the Black Law FIREAssociation demanded his termination for criticizing President Biden’s pledge to appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court.
Faculty Letter in Support of Hamline University Instructor, January 3, 2023
Hamline University failed to renew art history lecturer Erika Lopez-Prater’s contract after a Muslim student complained about Lopez-Prater’s presentation of artwork depicting the Prophet Muhammad during an art history class session on Islamic art.
Faculty Letter in Support of Samuel Joeckel, June 20, 2023
Palm Beach Atlantic University fired English professor Samuel Joeckel because material in the racial justice unit of his composition course was deemed to be “indoctrinating students.”
Open Letter to the American Anthropological Association and Canadian Anthropology Society, September 29, 2023
The American Anthropological Association and the Canadian Anthropology Society canceled a previously approved panel on biological sex at their upcoming annual meeting because “the ideas were advanced in such a way as to cause harm to members represented by the Trans and LGBTQI of the anthropological community as well as the community at large.”