University imposes one-year suspension on law professor over comments about race

PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania law school says it will impose a one-year suspension at half pay and other sanctions, along with a public reprimand to a tenured professor for her comments on race in recent years.

The university said Professor Amy Wax – who has questioned the academic performance of black students, invited a white nationalist to speak to her class and suggested the country would be better off with less Asian immigration – also lost her appointed chair and summer salary forever. and should note in public appearances that she speaks for herself, and not as a member of the university or law school. However, the university did not fire her or strip her of her tenure.

Wax told the New York Sun after the announcement that she plans to remain at the school as a “conservative presence on campus.” She called the allegations of mistreatment of students “totally bogus and fabricated” and said her treatment amounted to “performance art,” emphasizing that the administration “doesn’t want conservatives like me on campus.”

The university said in a notice in its almanac last week that a faculty hearing committee concluded after a three-day hearing last May that Wax had engaged in “egregious unprofessional conduct,” citing what it called “a history of making of drastic practices’. and derogatory generalizations about groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status.” Wax was also accused of “violating the requirement that student grades be kept private by publicly speaking about law student grades by race,” making “discriminatory and disparaging statements, some of which occurred in class,” targeting specific racial, ethnic and other groups. with which many students identify.”

Provost John L. Jackson Jr. said that academic freedom “is and should be very broad,” but that teachers must “convey a willingness to evaluate all students fairly” and not engage in “unprofessional conduct that creates an unequal educational environment creates.” Jackson said Wax’s behavior left many students “understandably concerned” about her ability to impartially assess their academic performance.

Wax’s attorney, David Shapiro, told the campus newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian, in November that officials attacked Wax for her public comments and some elements of her class on conservative thinking, including featuring a white nationalist figure. But he said officials also supported their case by raising “a handful of isolated, years-long allegations (that are highly disputed)” about alleged interactions with “a few minority students.”

Wax told the New York Sun that allegations of abuse or discrimination against students were “fabricated and provided as a cover to punish me for boilerplate, conservative anti-woke” opinions and factual observations that are not allowed on campus .” She said she was determined to expose students to “opinions and points of view they don’t want to hear” and said she fears campuses like Penn are “raising a generation of students who cannot deal with differences of opinion.”

In 2018, Wax was removed from teaching required first-year law courses after the law school dean accused her of speaking “disparagingly and inaccurately” about the performance of Black students.