Top Republicans expressed strong concerns Wednesday to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona over reports of colleges and universities actively undermining free speech and academic freedom on their campuses.
Republican Reps. James Comer of Kentucky and Virginia Foxx of North Carolina requested an immediate briefing on what actions, if any, the Education Department is taking to adopt an educational environment of tolerance and respect for all opinions.
The two lawmakers — Mr. Comer is the ranking Republican on the Oversight and Reform Committee; Mrs. Foxx holds that position on the Education and Labor Committee — noted that the federal government provides U.S. academic institutions billions in taxpayer-funded grants yearly.
“We are conducting oversight over the U.S. Department of Education’s (the Department) administration of taxpayers’ dollars awarded to public and private colleges and universities under various federal programs. Specifically, we are concerned many of these colleges and universities are undermining free speech and academic freedom on their campuses,” they wrote.
“Despite this problem, the Department does not seem to be engaged in promoting the free exchange of ideas within our colleges and universities,” Mr. Comer and Mrs. Foxx said.
The Education Department had no immediate response to a request for comment from The Washington Times.
Reports of attacks on campus free speech are practically a daily news story, and the lawmakers took note of some in their letter.
They cited how a computer science professor at the University of Washington had been disciplined for refusing to include a divisive “indigenous land acknowledgement” statement on his course syllabi.
In another instance, it took a federal lawsuit for the University of Michigan to disband its “bias response team” which was restricting free speech by seeking out and reporting student conduct that was considered “hostile” or “biased” against specific groups.
The Republicans also criticized the routine shutdown of campus speakers by “disruptive student protesters.”
The lawmakers noted that American taxpayers supply a substantial financial boost to both public and private universities
Source Washington Times