“While the ACLU-DC agrees with Georgetown Professor (and ACLU National Legal Director) David Cole that an academic should not be fired for offensive speech we want to make clear that racism on campus can create unequal learning opportunities for students, and that community members should be able to speak out against bigotry in all forms.
Additionally, academic freedom does not supersede our nation’s civil rights laws. Whatever the academic freedom implications of racist utterances by law school faculty, such statements also raise concerns about federally-funded institutions’ legal obligation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to ensure that “[n]o person . . . shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination.
We acknowledge Shapiro’s apology in which he clarified the intent behind his words. But we also want to be clear that academic freedom does not protect all racist speech on campus. As Cole rightly notes, “academic freedom does not protect those who engage in racial harassment or discrimination.” In addressing what has become a pattern of racist incidents at Georgetown, the university must balance its commitment to academic freedom with its commitment to counter bigotry and provide nondiscriminatory education opportunities for all students.”
Here is a link to the original article: https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2022/02/15/the-university-and-freedom-of-expression/