Wax’s views are undeniably controversial. She said in a 2017 interview that black law students “rarely” finish in the top half of their class. She has arguedthat black poverty is self-inflicted and, in the context of immigration policy, expressed a preference for “fewer Asians,” citing their “indifference to liberty” and “overwhelming” supportfor Democrats. She even invited Jared Taylor, a self-described “white identity” advocate, to speak to her class on conservative thought, saying his views were “well within the subject matter of the course.”
But tenure is intended to protect provocative speech. It came about in the 1920s after many professors were fired for endorsing then-controversial ideas like evolution, atheism, and free love. Robust job security meant academics could speak and teach freely about charged subjects, even if doing so was considered blasphemous.
That’s why Wax’s case has raised alarm about the future of academic freedom and the power of tenure to protect it. Unlike Princeton University’s Joshua Katz, whom the school sacked ostensibly over his consensual relationship with a former student, Wax is under the microscope only for what she’s said. Her dismissal would set a new precedent, signaling that tenured professors can be booted for airing views that students or administrators deem offensive.
“This is a game-changer, because it’s a pure case of speech,” Wax told the Free Beacon. “If they succeed in punishing me for that, it will eviscerate academic freedom as we know it.”
Faculty across the political spectrum echo that warning. Wax’s defenders include the conservative Princeton professor Robert George and the liberal Harvard Law professor Janet Halley, both of whom say Penn is playing with fire. “Statements on issues of law and public policy”—and the act of “inviting a controversial speaker” to class—are “unquestionably protected by academic freedom,” Halley wrote in July on behalf of the Academic Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit that defends faculty speech rights.
George, who cofounded the alliance, said that punishing Wax for either would have a chilling effect. “The message to faculty and students alike will be clear,” he said. “You had better not defy the campus orthodoxies, because if you do, the consequences could be severe.”