Princeton joins woke rush to purge dissent from US academia

Eminent linguist Joshua Katz was fired Monday by his longtime employer Princeton University in what seems (despite the university s denials) to be a straightforward act of political retaliation. 

His offense? Questioning woke orthodoxy. 

Katz, long a beloved professor, had the temerity to write an article in 2020 criticizing a letter signed by many Princeton faculty and students. That missive demanded the university undertake such anti-racist actions as axing SAT requirements, giving extra sabbatical time to faculty of color and appointing a nebulous committee to whom the entire university would be accountable for its efforts on this front. 

In other words, the signatories demanded a total sacrifice of academic freedom. Katz spoke up to defend the real mission of the university to educate, not indoctrinate and now has paid the price. 

Princeton claims his firing is due to his behavior during a years-old investigation of a relationship he had with a student, but Katz notes he was already punished for that infraction and the timing of the university s move is utterly transparent. 

Katz is hardly the only academic purged for speaking his mind. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) reports that at least 111 professors were targeted for ideological reasons last year. And it s not even exclusively the left doing it: Brigham Young University axed Sue Bergin for her support of gay marriage and wearing a rainbow flag pin.

via nypost.com

Professor Katz’s lawyer, Samantha Harris, was also yours truly’s lawyer. Just sayin’. She is one smart, tough cookie and my contribution consisted of doing everything she said and not doing anything she said not to do.