Combatting Misinformation and the Assault on Academic Freedom with Research, Education, and Advocacy

Abstract

In the wake of the social justice movements experienced across the nation, a coordinated legislative campaign has been initiated to limit how topics related to race, racism, and gender can be discussed, taught, and researched within primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Not only do these efforts reflect a serious attack on academic freedom, they threaten the principles of our democracy. In this address, I present a summary of the most recent legislative proposals introduced at the state and federal levels, and discuss the impact they have begun to have on faculty’s ability to teach and to conduct research, as well as on university budgets. To counter this assault, I call for a collective response from faculty, students, administrators, and professional associations.

Keywords:

• Academic freedom
• censorship
• education
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 See Wallace-Wells, B. (2021).

2 The following individuals have described CRT with those terms in television and/or radio interviews, posts on social media, or in official press releases: Mark Levin (political commentator); Christopher Rufo (political commentator); Liz Wheeler (political commentator); Senator Tom Cotton (Arkansas); Senator Ted Cruz (Texas); Senator Marco Rubio (Florida); Lt. Governor Dan Patrick (Texas); Lt. Governor Janice McGeachin (Idaho); Governor Ron DeSantis (Florida); Governor Pete Ricketts (Nebraska). Additionally, it is labeled as such in a number of the states’ proposed legislation referenced in Table 1.

3 Alabama HB 11, HB 377; Kansas SB 515; Kentucky HB 706; Minnesota HF 2778, HB 3301; Mississippi SB 2098, HB 1495; Missouri HB 952, HB 1815, SB 194, HB 1474; New Mexico HB 91; North Dakota HB 1508; Oklahoma SB 1401; Washington HB 1807; Wyoming HB 103.

4 Arizona HB 2898 and HB2906/SB 1840; Arkansas SB 627; Florida 1557/SB 1834; Idaho HB 377; Iowa HF 802; Mississippi SB 2113; New Hampshire HB 2; North Dakota HB 1508; Oklahoma HB 1775; South Carolina H 4100; South Dakota HB 1012; Tennessee HB 580; Texas SB 3.

5 Alabama HB 11 (pending); Idaho HB 377 (signed into law on April 28, 2021); Kentucky HB 706 (pending); Oklahoma SB 1401 (pending); South Carolina H 4325 (pending)

6 Alaska HB 228 (pending); Iowa HF 222 (pending); Kentucky HB 487, HB 706 (pending); Missouri HB 1634 and SB 645 (pending); New Hampshire HB 1255 (pending); New York A8253 (pending); Oklahoma HB 2988 and SB 614 (pending); South Carolina HB 4799 (pending);

7 This included the American Society of Criminology’s Executive Board. To date, ACJS has not signed.