(NEW YORK)–PEN America celebrates the memory of Harry Keyishian, one of the most important champions of academic freedom in the twentieth century, who died on April 4 at the age of 93.
In 1964, Harry Keyishian and four fellow professors at SUNY Buffalo sued the New York State Board of Regents over a law requiring faculty to sign a loyalty oath asserting they were not communists or political subversives. Keyishian had been fired after refusing to sign the oath.
“The sacrifice that Harry Keyishian and his fellow plaintiffs made helped create the modern understanding of academic freedom. Keyishian’s courageous stance for freedom of thought in Keyishian v. United States led to one of the most important decisions in First Amendment jurisprudence,” said Elly Brinkley, Staff Attorney for U.S. Free Expression Programs. “At a time when the values for which Keyishian and his fellow plaintiffs stood face grave threats, let us remind ourselves of Justice Brennan’s indelible words in the opinion: ‘Our nation is deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us, and not merely to the teachers concerned. That freedom is therefore a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom.’ We owe it to Harry Keyishian’s legacy to continue to fight for that transcendent value.”
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.
Contact: Malka Margolies, [email protected], 718-530-3582