The Amy Wax Case at the University of Pennsylvania, Explained

After more than two years, the case against controversial University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax has finally been resolved.

She is the first tenured professor at Penn in at least 20 years to be sanctioned after going through the full faculty governance process.

Below you can read more about the case and the procedure the university followed to impose sanctions on Wax.

» READ MORE: Penn’s hearing panel recommended sanctions against Amy Wax in June, but her appeal means the process isn’t over yet

Who is Amy Wax?

Wax, an Ivy League-educated lawyer and neurologist, once enjoyed a prestigious career both before and at Penn.

Originally from Troy, NY, she received her bachelor’s degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale, where she graduated summa cum laude. She went on to study philosophy, physiology and psychology at Oxford. She graduated from Harvard Medical School, trained as a neurologist and later earned her law degree from Columbia, according to her resume on Penn Law’s website.

She began her academic career at the University of Virginia and came to Penn in 2001. In 2005, she received the A. Leo Levin Award for Excellence in an Introductory Course from Penn Law School. Two years later, in 2007, her endowed chair was awarded to Robert Mundheim, a former dean of Penn Law School. And in 2015, she received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.

When did she first receive criticism?

In 2017, Wax co-authored an op-ed in which she said, “Not all cultures are equal. Or at least they are not equal in preparing people to be productive in an advanced economy.” She subsequently said in an interview that she didn’t think she had ever seen a black student graduate in the top quarter of the class at Penn Law and “rarely, rarely in the top half,” a claim former Penn Law School dean Theodore Ruger later disputed.

» READ MORE: Penn Law professor Amy Wax angered people with her comments about Asians. Now she could face sanctions.

In 2019, she came under fire again after making comments at a conference on immigration. In 2021, she said on a podcast with Brown University economist Glenn Loury that immigration policy should focus on “cultural compatibility” and called “the influx of Asian elites … problematic.” She later wrote on Loury’s site that “as long as most Asians support Democrats and help advance their positions, I think the United States would be better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.”

In April of that year, a group of alumni filed a complaint about Wax’s remarks. Ruger asked Daniel B. Rodriguez, former dean of Northwestern University’s law school, to review the criticism. He interviewed 26 Penn alumni; Wax declined to participate. Rodriguez found no evidence of discrimination against individual students, according to a chronology of the case in a university document, but said, “Professor Wax made a number of comments in class and a few outside of class that could reasonably be considered derogatory and harmful.”

Ruger later met with Wax and attempted unsuccessfully to resolve the matter informally.

How did the disciplinary case against her at Penn begin?

In January 2022, Ruger announced that he had initiated the faculty senate process that could lead to sanctions against Wax for racial slurs. He did so after receiving additional complaints against Wax. Penn’s process requires allegations against a tenured professor to be reviewed by faculty members.

» READ MORE: Penn Law professor Amy Wax is asking for a delay in disciplinary proceedings for her cancer treatment

What were the charges against her?

In his 12-page charging statement, former Penn Law School Dean Ted Ruger said Wax displayed “a callous and blatant disregard” for the university community with her “incessant racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic actions and statements.”

“Wax has made these statements in the classroom and on campus, in other academic settings, and in public forums in which she was identified as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” he wrote.

He noted that in 2021, she invited “famous white supremacist” Jared Taylor to speak to her class and then have lunch with her and the students.

What happened in the last two years?

The hearing committee began reviewing the written charges against Wax in October 2022 and determined that there were sufficient grounds to hold a hearing, which took place between May 1, 2023, and May 3, 2023, yielding more than 700 pages of transcripts and 70 exhibits. In addition to arguments from both sides, there was testimony from students, alumni, and faculty, and expert testimony on issues of academic freedom and professional conduct. The hearing committee made its decision in June 2023.

» READ MORE: Penn Law dean launches process that could lead to sanctions against professor Amy Wax

What did the hearing committee decide?

The five-member board, consisting of permanent faculty members, unanimously decided that Wax had committed “a serious violation of the university’s standards of conduct.” according to an August 2023 letter from former Penn President Liz Magill explaining her position on upholding the hearing committee’s decision. The committee said Wax “engaged in flagrantly unprofessional conduct that violated her responsibilities as an educator to provide all students with an equal opportunity to learn from her.”

The board found that she had a history of “broad, flippant, and derogatory generalizations about groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status,” and that she “violated the requirement that students’ grades remain private by speaking publicly about law students’ grades based on race and continuing to do so even after the dean warned her that doing so was a violation of university policy.” She also repeatedly made “discriminatory and derogatory statements targeting specific racial, ethnic, and other groups with which many students identify,” both in and out of class and in public, the board said.

What sanctions has the Council recommended?

A one-year suspension at half pay, with full benefits, a public reprimand by university leadership, the loss of her professorship and summer salary, and the requirement to state in her public appearances that she is not speaking on behalf of or as a member of Penn Carey Law or Penn Law School.

Will she lose her permanent position?

No.

Did the president play a role in approving the sanctions?

Magill, who was the chair at the time of the hearing committee’s decision, noted in her letter that she could deviate from the committee’s recommendations only in “exceptional circumstances” and only to “reduce the severity of the recommended sanctions” or to dismiss the charges for “insufficient evidence,” she wrote, citing university policy.

She confirmed the board’s decision.

The case is not simple, Magill wrote, noting that Wax is an “award-winning educator” and that she recognizes the importance of academic freedom.

But, Magill wrote, Wax’s behavior “would lead many students to rightly question whether they could be fairly trained and assessed by her.

“Academic freedom is and should be very broad, but it does not include the right to engage in blatantly unprofessional acts that create an unequal educational environment for students.”

Why weren’t the sanctions implemented over a year ago when Magill published her letter?

Wax appealed the decision, which prompted an investigation by Penn’s Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility to determine whether proper procedures were followed. Wax alleged several procedural errors, including that the board imposed sanctions based on “vague, novel and undefined allegations of wrongdoing,” according to Magill’s letter. Wax also said the board refused to order Ruger to provide Wax with the grades and class standings of current and former law students.

The Commission on Academic Freedom decided earlier this year that the correct procedures had been followed, meaning the sanctions could go into effect.

Did interim president J. Larry Jameson play a role in the Wax decision?

Because Magill had already acted, he did not have to do so. But he noted in a letter published Tuesday in the Penn Almanac that he was confirming and carrying out the decision.

Is the decision final?

Yes.

When does Wax’s suspension take effect?

The suspension will take effect for the 2025-2026 school year.