Professor Jonathan Zimmerman from the University of Pennsylvania recently joined Professor Marshall Breger’s seminar, “Free Speech in Universities,” held on Friday, February 14, to discuss the controversial case of Professor Amy Wax.

Professor Wax, a faculty member at Penn Law School, has been a polarizing figure due to her contentious remarks and actions. The University of Pennsylvania sanctioned her after determining she had subjected students, faculty, and staff to "intentional and incessant xenophobic and homophobic statements" both inside and outside the classroom. These included comments suggesting that certain cultures are superior to others, that some students underperform due to their ethnicity, and that Asian American immigration poses challenges for the United States. Additionally, Wax was criticized for inviting a white nationalist speaker to one of her classes. Following the University’s decision to sanction and suspend her, Wax filed a Title VI lawsuit in federal court.

Professor Zimmerman, one of the foremost experts in U.S. educational policy and history, is an acclaimed author of over nine books, including The Amateur Hour: A History of College Teaching in America (John Hopkins, 2020), Free Speech: And Why You Should Give a Damn (City of Light Publishing, 2022), and Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools (University of Chicago, 2022).

During the seminar, Breger and Zimmerman explored critical questions surrounding free speech in academic settings, such as the extent to which extra-mural speech—no matter how offensive—should be protected, and the boundaries of speech within the classroom, especially if it causes discomfort among students. They distinguished between speech targeting individual students and comments made in a broader classroom context that students might find offensive. The discussion also touched on a professor’s professional obligations toward their students and the balance between free expression and fostering an inclusive academic environment.

“Free Speech in Universities” is a law school seminar that allows students to engage with legal issues directly tied to real-world controversies.

Future guest speakers will include Ilya Shapiro, who will discuss his forthcoming book, Lawless: The Mission of America’s Elite (Harper, 2025), and Marc Stern, General Counsel of the American Jewish Committee, who will examine questions related to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.