The push for accountability comes after a string of high profile speakers being pushed off campus as well as students facing consequences for unpopular opinions.

“Administrators at Yale Law School threatened to interfere with one student’s ability to pass the character and fitness examination for his bar license unless he apologized to a student group for an email,” the letter said. “St. Louis University disbursed student fees among student organizations discriminately, based on political or ideological affiliation. Certain faculty at University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University Law Center, and Princeton University have been placed on administrative leave or faced threats of termination or indefinite ‘investigations’ for expressing their opinions outside the classroom on social media.”

The committee pointed out that in 2019 alone, major universities received billions of dollars in federal funds. …

The letter argues this level of government funding should come with accountability.

“For this reason, these institutions of higher learning should be havens of free speech. Instead, school administrators are undermining the very purpose of their institutions,” letter said. “The proliferation of cancel culture in American higher education threatens the ability of students and faculty to push themselves past their academic limits. The Department should be signaling to these institutions that academic freedom is paramount for the success of students, faculty, and society, and should help them see that limiting free speech is counter to the intellectual goals of academia.” …

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(Excerpt from The Center Square. Photo Credit: Charles DeLoye on Unsplash)