Professors Halley and Gersen help lead Academic Freedom Alliance.
The Academic Freedom Alliance has grown to nearly 700 faculty members since 2011, including eleven from HLS. Harvard Law Today interviews HLS Professors Janet Halley, current chair of AFA’s Academic Committee, and Jeannie Suk Gersen ’02, member of AFA’s Legal Advisory Council, about why they think academic freedom is under threat and what they hope to do about it. “It’s about protecting the pursuit of knowledge, and fostering an atmosphere at colleges and universities in which ideas can be followed without fear that you’ll be punished.”
“Founded in 2021, it [AFA} has grown to include nearly 700 faculty members, including eleven at Harvard Law School: Elizabeth Bartholet ’65, Charles Fried, Jesse Fried ’92, Jack Goldsmith, David W. Kennedy, Randall L. Kennedy, Richard Parker ’70, Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr. ’94, and Dehlia Umunna. Harvard Law Professor Janet Halley, the Eli Goldston Professor of Law, currently serves as chair of AFA’s Academic Committee, which includes HLS Visiting Professor Robert George ’81. Jeannie Suk Gersen ’02, the John H. Watson, Jr. Professor of Law at Harvard, is a member of AFA’s Legal Advisory Council, along with Harvard Law alumni Paul Clement ’92, Elizabeth Cosenza ’01, Nadine Strossen ’75 and Stephen T. Whelan ’71.”