My fight against campus cancel culture

I’m a rare breed, a law professor that is an unashamed conservative. Over my 15 years of teaching, countless students of all genders, races, and religions, have confided in me as one of — if not the — only faculty member at the with whom they could speak freely about political and social issues.

This is because too many professors are intolerant of conservative ideas and students are rightfully afraid of being punished for publicly disagreeing.

My conservative students feel pressure to adopt their professors’ left-wing political views by answering in class and on exams that criminal laws are racist, limits on immigration are dehumanizing and defending the unborn is violence to women. These students mock the intolerant left , but also lament not being able to express their conservative views without fear of reprisal.

I, too, keep my thoughts to myself while at the UM campus, but I have a Twitter account and find it an exhilarating Roman Coliseum of ideological debate. Many of my students follow me and we engage in ways we can’t physically. And if spectators want to join in, all the better.

My employer’s Faculty Manual could not be clearer, anything a faculty member says in their personal life shall have no impact on their employment. But promises are not always kept, as I found out after recently tweeting my views on race, abortion, lawful self-defense and integrity in elections.

First came the student calls for me to be fired, published in the student paper along with my tweets and quotes calling me “racist” and “dangerous.” Then my Dean issued a community letter saying that free speech was important, but he found my tweets awful and would speak with me about them.

In our subsequent conversation, I was told I must retract my statements and apologize or my contract would not be renewed. I rejected these demands, as not only did I not have anything to apologize for, it also violated the Faculty Manual for my boss to punish me for expressing my political beliefs, which are shared by many conservative students and Americans. I was told my refusal could lead to my employment being terminated even before my contract expires.

I’m too stubborn to give in to cancel culture and decided to fight as hard as I could against it.

I said that if people were upset by my tweets, they now knew how my conservative students felt being forced to listen to equally offensive ideas in class. I also pointed out how my statements were on Twitter, where no one is forced to listen, and how the Faculty Manual unambiguously defended my personal speech.

A couple days later, the administration emailed my students saying my academic integrity in grading was questionable and they could elect to change their grade to pass-fail. The evidence flatly refutes this accusation, as my student evaluations are impeccable, I’m frequently identified as one of the fairest professors in graduating student exit interviews.

A few days after that, several faculty colleagues published a letter calling my words “violent” and “potentially reflecting deeper failings.” These letters are de rigueur in the cancel culture playbook. I was given an opportunity to respond and did so by pointing out my critics chose conclusory labels and name calling over counterarguments and counterfacts.

I appeared on Fox’s

Laura Ingraham’s show and responded to several other media inquiries. I had nothing to be ashamed of and was happy for this matter to get more sunlight.

My employer finally issued a public statement that I have not been terminated or threatened with termination but failing to address whether I will have my contract renewed. I haven’t won my battle against campus cancel culture.The chilling effect on conservative speech, including by students in particular, has been achieved. But fighting cancel culture must be done, because without free exchange of ideas, we are not going to produce the best citizens and the best policies. So, despite the personal cost of doing so, I will stick to my principles. I will not retract my statements, I will not apologize and I will not resign.

I also know I am not alone in this fight. My campus is but a microcosm of what is happening to conservatives in law schools, universities and colleges across America.