When Candice Hargons, PhD, created a two-day racial equity trainingopens in new window program for the University of Kentucky (UK) community, she dreamed of rousing sessions that would make campus a more inclusive place. She never imagined it would lead to death threats, hate mail, and her inclusion on conservative interest group Turning Point USA’s “professor watchlistopens in new window.”
Hargons, an associate professor of counseling psychology at UK, came under fire when another conservative group, Young America’s Foundation, learned about her racial equity work and filed a public records request for sweeping access to her emails, PowerPoint slides, curriculum, and other documents.
“In a skewed, coordinated attack, they positioned me as someone who believes White people are inferior to other people,” said Hargons, when her sessions actually emphasized that all human beings are equal. “It was one of the most invasive and violating racist stressors of my professional life.”
What Hargons experienced is just one symptom of broader—and increasingly state-sponsored—efforts to censor, silence, and intimidate faculty in higher education. In what many say is the biggest threat to academic freedom in decades, ideologically driven legislation in conservative states now aims to limit teaching, research, and even discussion of a variety of topics, including critical race theory, abortion, and LGBTQ+ identity. These so-called educational gag orders are creating a climate of fear at universities and compounding the harassment—online and otherwise—faculty are facing.
As of April 2023, almost all of the legislation passed (21 bills in 17 states) applies to K–12 classrooms, but about a third of it (7 bills in 7 states, affecting 42 million people) also impacts higher education, according to PEN America, a nonprofit dedicated to human rights and free expression (Index of Educational Gag Orders, 2023opens in new window). Some of the laws use vague, hard-to-enforce language and do most of their work through intimidation, leading faculty to self-censor or face censorship from university administrators wary of losing public funds.
Other proposed legislation, including new efforts in Florida, Texas, and Ohio, seeks to weaken or end tenure; ban all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and hand over control of major university operations to politicians. Some laws even aim to deputize citizens to report educatorsopens in new window and institutions they believe are in violation.
“This is a substantial threat—possibly a mortal threat—to academic freedom, because it would force universities to operate under a persistent climate of fear. At any moment, something taught or discussed could lead to scrutiny, punishment, or termination,” said Jeremy C. Young, PhD, PEN America’s senior manager of free expression and education. “It’s a terrifying moment for academic freedom in the United States.”
Ideological attacks on education
Universities have long been a haven for sharing and exploring ideas, even ones that are unpopular or controversial. Under the principle of academic freedom, professors—especially those with tenure—have the right to teach pedagogically relevant material and share their personal opinions on public issues without institutional or outside censorship or interference, said Zach Greenberg, JD, a senior program officer in the Campus Rights Advocacy division at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Surveys suggest that most U.S. adults still support academic freedom in higher education (Voters’ Perceptions of Higher Education Related to Speech and Viewpoint Diversity Across Campus and in the Classroom (PDF, 112KB)opens in new window, American Council on Education, 2020).
Nevertheless, new and increasingly restrictiveopens in new window educational gag orders continue to become law. The wave of legislation began in 2020 as a backlash against the country’s racial reckoning, including protests for racial justice following the murder of George Floyd and efforts to recognize and reverse systemic racism, such as the 1619 Project. Politicians are now leveraging these culture wars to motivate their electorate, said Christine Reyna, PhD, a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago.
Academics are often targeted in times of societal stress, said Ellen Schrecker, PhD, a professor emerita of history at Yeshiva University in New York who studies McCarthyism and academic freedom. After the Civil War, the United Daughters of the Confederacy pressured public schools to reframe the war as a states’ rights issue, rather than a fight over the abolition of slavery. During the McCarthy period, professors with suspected ties to the Communist Party were interrogated and sometimes fired.
So far, most of the fallout from the new laws involves educators censoring themselves or falling prey to censorship from overly cautious administrators. The University of Central Floridaopens in new window and Oklahoma City Community Collegeopens in new window are among the schools that canceled classes covering White privilege and racial discrimination. Last fall, the University of Idahoopens in new window told faculty to avoid discussing abortion in class and to remain “neutral” on the subject if it came up.
“The vagueness is the thing that’s so frightening,” Reyna said. “Educators are scared that without clearer guidance, they’re going to be targeted. That’s the power and the tyranny of these laws.”
In rare cases, schools are facing direct consequences for their DEI efforts. In Florida, New Collegeopens in new window has become a symbol of Governor Ron DeSantis’s attacks on public education, with firings and plans to remake the progressive school in a conservative mold.
Over the long term, psychologists and others express deep concerns about how the legislation will affect the culture of academia. Young predicts “brain drain” in states that pass educational gag orders, with faculty fleeing and flooding the academic job market in other states. Without free expression on campus, students will also suffer, Reyna said, because they will not develop the critical thinking and debate skills they need to succeed in their careers and in our democracy.
“It’s really a disservice to the mission of the academe, but it’s also a disservice to the country,” said Charles Toombs, PhD, a professor of Africana studies at San Diego State University and chair of the American Association of University Professors’ Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. “In states where this is happening, students will only be getting a half-baked exposure to the knowledge that this country has produced and its very complicated history and culture.”
The latest threat to free expression
Concerns over the new laws echo protests from another part of the ideological spectrum: that on campus, conservative viewpoints have been silenced—or, in some cases, shouted down—for years.
“Americans on the far left and the far right of the political spectrum have something in common, namely, intolerance of those who don’t see the world as they do,” said Daniel Gilbert, PhD, a professor of psychology at Harvard University. “Hearing words we don’t like is painful. But history teaches us that living in a society in which others decide what we can and can’t say is even more painful.”
Surveys indicate that students with conservative views are more reticent to speak up in class than those with liberal views, and that those fears may be tied to peer pressure (2022 Campus Expression Survey Report, Heterodox Academyopens in new window).
In March, students at Stanford Law Schoolopens in new window heckled a conservative judge who spoke on campus, while the University of Pennsylvaniaopens in new window grappled with how to handle a professor who made racist statements and invited a White nationalist to speak during class. Universities are juggling the dual challenges of backing free expression for all students while supporting those who say they are facing discrimination or harassment because of their identity.
“We can’t shove these concerns under the rug, but we also have to look at questions of power,” said Schrecker. “[Shouting down a speaker] is nowhere near as dangerous as an arm of the state criminalizing teachers’ attempts to talk about certain issues.”
How to respond
Do not overinterpret educational gag orders. The new laws tend to include vague language, but Young of PEN America urges faculty and administrators not to steer clear of an entire topic (such as race) just because a bill bans something related (such as mandatory DEI trainings).
“The most important thing is not to do the censor’s work for them,” he said. “Go about your business unless you are explicitly told that you cannot under the law.”
In some cases, that might require an uncomfortable choice for educators. At the University of Virginia, postdoctoral social psychology researcher Gerald Higginbotham, PhD, studies how people perceive and shape history in ways that reflect their motivations and protect their identities. For example: How does racism influence the debate about gun regulations in the United States? Keeping in mind the purpose that brought him to psychology in the first place—to use research as a tool to understand societal injustice—helps him stay focused.
“I chose these domains to bring science into these conversations—and I can’t just walk away,” he said. “If I’m told I can’t do that, I basically can’t do academia.”
Seek support. Faculty should not push back on the administration without help. If you are facing censorship from your institution, Young recommends turning to the text of the law, your university’s mission statement, and other channels of support within the school, such as a dean or ombudsperson.
Outside your university, these professional organizations, labor unions, and organizations formed specifically to protect academic freedom can also help:
- American Association of University Professors (AAUP) . AAUP will evaluate your request and choose whether to conduct an investigation. In severe cases, AAUP formally censures institutions and monitors them to ensure conditions improve. Contact AAUP .
- Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) : Submit a caseopens in new window . FIRE’s resources include campus rights advocates, who submit demand letters to universities urging them to uphold their legal and professional obligations; a faculty legal defense fund; media support; litigation support; and a policy reform team that proactively works with universities to create stronger protections for academic freedom on campus.
- The Academic Freedom Allianceopens in new window, PEN Americaopens in new window, Heterodox Academyopens in new window, American Council of Trustees and Alumniopens in new window, and Society for Open Inquiry in Behavioral Scienceopens in new window also advocate for free expression on campus and may be able to help.
“The support is so important. These organizations make us feel less powerless,” said J. Michael Bailey, PhD, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University who faced harassment after the publication of his 2003 book, The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism. “They help people with similar values find, support, and—if necessary—defend each other.”
APA and more than 100 other higher education groups have signed a statement supporting free expression on campus, led by the American Council on Education (Free and Open Academic Inquiry and Debate on Our Campuses Is Essential to Our Democracy and National Well-being (PDF, 71KB), 2022opens in new window). APA’s Division 15 (Educational Psychology) also filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs in Falls v. DeSantis, a challenge of Florida’s “Stop W.O.K.E.” act, citing research on the benefits of teaching students about racism and diversity. APA offers additional resources to support educators, including a recent Essential Science Conversation on DEI bans.
Protect yourself online. A dangerous consequence of today’s “culture wars” is the harassment directed at researchers and educators, often via social media or other virtual channels.
“These attacks look like they’re personal. Often, they aren’t about you, but about what you represent,” said Viktorya Vilk, director for digital safety and free expression at PEN America. “Online abuse directly threatens people’s free expression, and it threatens the expression of some people more than others, depending on their identity.”
Women, people of color, and people who are LGBTQ+ are disproportionately attacked and threatened online (Vogels, E., Pew Research Center, January 13, 2021opens in new window). If you are studying or teaching about social justice, gender identity, or race, you may also face a heightened risk, so it is important to protect yourself, including by strengthening security on your accounts and tightening your online footprint.
[Related: Defend yourself from online attacks]
Take preventive action on campus. Both faculty and administrators can work to establish a campus culture that enables constructive conversations about sensitive topics.
“How do we empower students in colleges and at the K–12 level to engage in meaningful, academically rigorous conversations about things that are controversial?” asked Lynn Gangone, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. She points to the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Discussion Projectopens in new window, a tool for creating fruitful classroom discussions on a range of topics, as one framework for doing so.
AAUP says faculty groups can also help preempt restrictions on academic freedom by reviewing their institution’s faculty handbooks and collective bargaining agreements to ensure they contain key recommended language and policiesopens in new window. APA has eight policy documents related to standards and guidelines for training and education that can also be used to create policies for psychology programs.
[Related: APA’s education guidelines: Leading conversations and decision-making]
Fight back as a citizen. Brazen threats to academic freedom demand an equally strong resistance. Speak publicly about your concerns, write an op-ed, or join a coalition at your university or across universities. Mobilize your campus—hold teach-ins, walkouts, sit-ins in administrative offices, or moments of silence where everyone wears a gag, Schrecker suggests.
“Statements aren’t enough,” she said. “We need collective action that says to administrators: ‘We’re organized, we’re upset about this, and we expect you to protect us. Do not enforce these rules.’”
