Dean Bobo’s Opinion Sparks Backlash
On June 15, 2024, Lawrence D. Bobo, Dean of Social Science at Harvard, published a piece in the Crimson entitled Faculty Speech Must Have Limits, arguing that faculty who criticize the administration should be punished. Coming from a prominent and influential dean, the piece was interpreted by many as having the University’s imprimatur and, thus, as an explicit threat on faculty free speech.
Response was broad and swift. The Crimson detailed immediate reactions three days later, with substantial scrutiny soon coming from prominent voices:
Leadership of CAFH: Don’t Punish Faculty Speech (Crimson)
Former Dean of HMS Jeffrey Flier An Attack on Free Speech at Harvard (The Atlantic)
Harvard Alumni for Free Speech founders: To Restore Harvard’s Reputation, Faculty Should Speak Up (Boston Globe)
Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board Harvard’s Dean of Speech Sanctions (WSJ)
Bobo warned that “sharply critical speech from faculty, prominent ones especially, can attract outside attention.” He went on to explain, “A faculty member’s right to free speech does not amount to a blank check to engage in behaviors that plainly incite external actors — be it the media, alumni, donors, federal agencies, or the government — to intervene in Harvard’s affairs.”
Among recent interventions, congress calling the University president to testify and independent media’s plagiarism accusations influenced the resignation of Bobo’s colleague, Claudine Gay. Dean Bobo was one of the individuals whose academic work was used by Claudine Gay (although he dismissed the plagiarism claim—"Bobo, a professor and dean of social science at Harvard, wrote in an email: 'I find myself unconcerned about these claims as our work was explicitly acknowledged.’”).
Related:
A Frightening View of Free Speech and Academic Freedom at Harvard (Reason)
A Harvard Dean A Causes Firestorm With Call To Limit Faculty Speech (Forbes)
A Dean Called for Silencing Harvard’s Faculty Critics. He’s Been Roasted. (Inside Higher Ed)
A Harvard Dean’s Assault on Faculty Speech (Chronicle of Higher Ed)
Sanctioning Harvard Professor Roland Fryer:
Harvard Won’t Say if It Supports Diversity of Thought (RealClear Politics)
How Claudine Gay Canceled Harvard's Best Black Professor (Documentary- see full coverage)
