National Free Speech News & Commentary

Why Are Humanists So Bad at Defending the Humanities?

Why Are Humanists So Bad at Defending the Humanities?

N. Ángel Pinillos June 25, 2026 1 min read

I recently listened to Ross Douthat’s interview with the philosopher Jennifer Frey. She is a serious thinker and an unusually courageous academic entrepreneur. What she built at the University of Tulsa before it was dismantled is exactly the sort of thing more universities should be attempting. Yet almost every argument she offered for the humanities is, I think, completely unpersuasive to anyone not already on our side of the table.

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Free Expression in a Climate of Self-Censorship: A National Survey of American Law Faculty

Free Expression in a Climate of Self-Censorship: A National Survey of American Law Faculty

FIRE June 25, 2026 1 min read

This report presents findings from a national survey of 1,959 law school faculty at 192 American Bar Association (ABA) approved law schools in the United States, conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). As one of the largest surveys of law faculty on free expression and professional norms, the data reveal a profession that strongly endorses free speech principles while struggling to live them out in practice. 

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The Turley-Wolfson Debate on Institutional Neutrality in Higher Education

The Turley-Wolfson Debate on Institutional Neutrality in Higher Education

Jonathan Turley  June 25, 2026 1 min read

I just returned from the University of Wyoming, where I debated the President of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Todd Wolfson over the need for colleges and universities to maintain institutional neutrality. The debate was organized by the Steamboat Institute and was live-streamed.

The formal question presented for debate was: “Is institutional neutrality necessary to preserve the university as a forum for open inquiry rather than an actor in political disputes?” I spoke in favor of institutional neutrality while Wolfson argued against it as a necessary component to higher education.

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The Humanities in Crisis? A Discussion on the “State of Scholarship in the Humanities” Report

The Humanities in Crisis? A Discussion on the “State of Scholarship in the Humanities” Report

John Tomasi  June 25, 2026 1 min read

A new report commissioned by the chancellors of Vanderbilt and Washington University, Report on the State of Scholarship in the Humanities and the Humanistic Social Sciences, brought together senior scholars to assess the state of scholarship in the humanities and humanistic social sciences.    

In this webinar, recorded on June 11th, HxA President John Tomasi joins report co-author Ashley Rubin (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa) and Regina Rini (York University) to critically discuss the report’s conclusions, where it leaves work undone, and what a genuine path toward healthier scholarly norms might look like.

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Law professors say they support free speech. Many are afraid to practice it.

Law professors say they support free speech. Many are afraid to practice it.

Nate Honeycutt June 25, 2026 1 min read

For a report released this week, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) surveyed 1,959 law faculty at 192 ABA-approved law schools. The findings reveal a profession caught in a contradiction: law professors overwhelmingly endorse free expression in principle, yet many describe an academic culture that discourages them from practicing it.

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Prof. Fired for Palestinian Activism Should Be Reinstated, Arbitrator Says

Prof. Fired for Palestinian Activism Should Be Reinstated, Arbitrator Says

Emma Whitford June 24, 2026 1 min read

An arbitrator ruled that Sang Hea Kil, a tenured San José State University professor who was fired in 2025 after participating in pro-Palestinian student protests, should be reinstated, the California Faculty Association announced Monday. 

The arbitrator deemed Kil’s termination to be an “excessive” punishment and said it should be reduced to a one-month unpaid suspension, according to the news release. Kil was the first tenured full professor to be fired for pro-Palestinian advocacy.

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