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The Dangers of the Manhattan Statement

July 22, 2025

In his inaugural column, John K. Wilson argues that a conservative group's ‘new contract’ for higher ed risks greater government intrusion into the sector.

A photo of a student walking through campus gates at Harvard University, a stately brick campus building in the background.
A photo of a student walking through campus gates at Harvard University, a stately brick campus building in the background.

A Blueprint for Repression

April 24, 2025

Harvard is rightly fighting back against the Trump administration’s demands, which pose a threat to every college in America, John K. Wilson writes.

An illustration of a bloodied knife cutting through the words "Dear Colleague" and "Academic Freedom." Heart-shaped blood splatters surround the knife and the words.
An illustration of a bloodied knife cutting through the words "Dear Colleague" and "Academic Freedom." Heart-shaped blood splatters surround the knife and the words.

The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

February 27, 2025

The Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter was one of the worst attacks on academic freedom by the government in American history, John K. Wilson writes.

Two road signs on a pole: one, with the words "Free Speech," points to the right, while the other, with the word "Censorship," points to the left.
Two road signs on a pole: one, with the words "Free Speech," points to the right, while the other, with the word "Censorship," points to the left.

In Defense of FIRE

November 21, 2024

John K. Wilson argues that a recent defense of the AAUP goes too far in denouncing the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

A photo illustration that highlights a quote from a recent American Association of University Professors statement on academic boycotts. The quote reads, "Individual faculty members and students should be free to weigh, assess, and debate the specific circumstances giving rise to calls for systematic academic boycotts and to make their own choices regarding their participation in them."
A photo illustration that highlights a quote from a recent American Association of University Professors statement on academic boycotts. The quote reads, "Individual faculty members and students should be free to weigh, assess, and debate the specific circumstances giving rise to calls for systematic academic boycotts and to make their own choices regarding their participation in them."

In Defense of the AAUP’s Statement on Boycotts

August 29, 2024

John K. Wilson opposes academic boycotts but supports the AAUP’s controversial new statement nevertheless.

A graphic depicting a passage from the model General Education Act that reads “As the faculty and teaching duties of the School of General Education increase in size, the university shall reduce faculty in divisions outside the School of General Education to a corresponding degree, through program discontinuance or substantial curtailment, as deemed necessary by the {governing board}.”
A graphic depicting a passage from the model General Education Act that reads “As the faculty and teaching duties of the School of General Education increase in size, the university shall reduce faculty in divisions outside the School of General Education to a corresponding degree, through program discontinuance or substantial curtailment, as deemed necessary by the {governing board}.”

The Right-Wing Attack on Academia, With a Totalitarian Twist

November 16, 2023

New model legislation, ostensibly meant to overhaul general education, proposes a radical assault on faculty and academic freedom, John K. Wilson writes.