Effort to Scrutinize Academic Decision-Making Reflects Growing Appetite for Political Meddling in Higher Education
NEW YORK — PEN America today sharply criticized some Republican members of Congress for their recent actions scrutinizing academic decision-making at the Naval Academy, including insinuating that an invitation to scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat to deliver a lecture could violate federal law, which led to the event’s cancellation.
A leading expert on authoritarianism and history professor at New York University, Ben-Ghiat is the author of numerous books on Italian fascism, including most recently Strongman: Mussolini to the Present — which compares Donald Trump to Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, and Pinochet, among other dictators. She is a regular commentator on MSNBC, and has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump, regularly connecting his temperament and viewpoints to some of the dictators she studies. Ben-Ghiat had been invited by the Naval Academy’s history department to deliver the Bancroft Memorial Lecture on October 10, which she said would focus on “what happens to militaries under authoritarian rule.”
In the days before the scheduled lecture, however, the Naval Academy canceled the lecture claiming it wanted to avoid even appearing to violate federal law. This came after the urging of Congressman Keith Self (R-TX), who wrote to the Academy’s superintendent, Admiral Yvette M. Davids, saying the invitation was “a serious lapse in judgment” and that allowing her to speak, especially within weeks of the presidential election, would violate a Department of Defense directive that prohibits the military from engaging in partisan political activity. A group of sixteen Republican members subsequently wrote to Superintendent Davids, similarly labeling Ben-Ghiat a “partisan historian” and lauding the event’s cancellation. They also posed a series of questions to Academy leadership about internal academic processes, including how Ben-Ghiat came to be selected for the lecture, and how the institution defines “academic freedom.”
Ben-Ghiat has stated that she did not intend to discuss Trump or contemporary America during the lecture, noting that the event was to be strictly nonpartisan.
In response, Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms director of PEN America’s U.S. Free Expression programs, said:
“The irony cannot be lost here: government officials have used their positions to muscle out a scholar of authoritarianism from a prestigious lecture, aping the very tactics of censorship and political intimidation that are frequently associated with authoritarian states. At best, this is an effort to insert a political agenda into academic decision-making at the Naval Academy, which threatens its autonomy and independence. At worst, it’s an effort to chill speech and academic freedom due to the fact that the Academy receives its budget from Congressional appropriations. But even though the Academy has a unique status and obligations and receives federal funds, that does not give the government the right to dictate its speakers or educational activities. The Naval Academy’s academic departments ought to have the freedom to invite speakers that can educate and inspire their students, without fear of government reprisal.”
Friedman added: “An invitation to a scholar to deliver a lecture on her subject matter expertise is about as ordinary an action as we would expect any institution of higher learning to support, any day of the week. That invitation does not equate to endorsement of the speaker’s views, nor does it prevent an audience from debating them. Rather, it is part of how academic institutions are supposed to fulfill their basic mission. Unfortunately, we are seeing that mission continue to be put into jeopardy, as the appetite for political meddling in higher education continues to grow.”
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
PEN America is a nonpartisan 501C3 nonprofit that takes no stand on candidates for political office.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], (201) 247-5057