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Professor Watchlist Draws Criticism from Free Speech Groups

Last week, the conservative group Turning Point USA (TPUSA) launched its in order to 鈥渆xpose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.鈥 As we noted in response, watchlists created to document people and the views they hold were historically used to punish listees for voicing their opinions鈥攁n outcome at odds with free expression.

Now, more free speech groups are condemning the list as antithetical to the free and open exchange of ideas in higher education.  

The Watchlist has drawn the ire of and , two organizations that promote free speech and academic freedom. In a press release, PEN America as 鈥渁 noxious purveyor of precisely what it claims to deride: the intimidation and ostracization of those who express controversial views on campus.鈥 The group further denounced the list as one of many attempts to 鈥渉amper or intimidate free speech on college campuses,鈥 as discussed in their recently released report on free speech at American universities.

Additionally, 鈥檚 executive committee issued a statement 鈥渃all[ing] on everyone who is concerned about the state of higher education to stop devising ways that members of an academic community can report or punish each other for classroom speech.鈥 According to the group, the Watchlist creates a climate of fear that 鈥渄eprives everyone of the vigorous debate and disagreement that is essential for learning and scholarship.鈥 By compiling the Watchlist, Heterodox Academy argues that TPUSA discourages unpopular and controversial views on campus when the goal should be 鈥渢o encourage a variety of voices鈥攈eterodox voices鈥攕o that bad arguments can be answered with good ones and scholarly ideas can be tested by the strongest minds on both sides.鈥

As FIREPresident and CEO Greg Lukianoff The Chronicle of Higher Education last week, 鈥淸w]hether the list ends up having a chilling effect on speech depends on how seriously people take it.鈥 And while TPUSA has the First Amendment right to compile information on professors and their views, the effort 鈥渟ets off a lot of alarms,鈥 Greg explained to , 鈥渂ecause of our history of blacklists.鈥

鈥淢aybe a few months ago professors would have laughed it off, but in the current political climate they鈥檙e not so sure,鈥 he said. 鈥淐ertainly in the past we鈥檝e seen cases where academics are threatened, subject to harassment and intimidation.鈥 Greg also suggested that students try talking to professors they disagree with before adding them to a watchlist: 鈥淚f you have a particular argument with a professor鈥攅ither they鈥檙e not being very professional or you disagree with something in their class, the first thing you should do it bring that up with the professor.鈥

Greg concluded with an offer of 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 support, stating, 鈥淚f universities try to punish professors for what is constitutionally protected speech, FIREstands ready to help and we urge them to get in touch with us straight away.鈥

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