New PEN America Report, America’s Censored Classrooms 2024: Refining the Art of Censorship
I’m pleased to share with you America’s Censored Classrooms 2024: Refining the Art of Censorship, PEN America’s latest annual report on state-level educational censorship laws aimed at colleges and universities. The report outlines a growing and sophisticated campaign to restrict academic freedom and campus free expression in the United States.
Authored by Jeffrey Adam Sachs and myself, America’s Censored Classrooms 2024 warns that legislative efforts to curtail educational speech have evolved from overt gag orders banning controversial topics into new stealth tactics that threaten higher education across the nation. These new tactics obscure their intent to impose devastating new restrictions on higher ed by identifying them with popular causes such as “institutional neutrality” or “viewpoint diversity.” Lawmakers also banned DEI offices in at least two new states, Utah and Iowa, undermined faculty tenure in Indiana, and restricted faculty control over curriculum and teaching.
The report also includes data visualizations, descriptions of new laws, and an updated index of educational censorship legislation. We hope you find it helpful.
Tags: AACTE partner organizations, federal issues
