Claremont McKenna College: Professors Banned from Quoting Historical Works of Literature
Cases
Claremont McKenna College
Case Overview
Three Claremont McKenna College professors 鈥 Christopher Nadon, Robert Faggen, and Eva Revesz 鈥 reported being investigated, warned, and non-renewed, respectively, after teaching excerpts from historical works of literature such as 鈥淗uckleberry Finn,鈥 and 鈥淭he Color Purple,鈥 which contained the word 鈥渘igger.鈥 On August 22, 2022, FIREwrote to CMC explaining that the college鈥檚 strong policies and commitments to safeguard academic freedom for its faculty and students prohibit it from sanctioning professors for exercising their pedagogical autonomy to decide how to teach material that may be challenging, upsetting, or even deeply offensive.