The Ohio State chapter of the American Association of University Professors released a letter on its website this week criticizing Ohio State President Ted Carter's remarks on CBS's "Face The Nation."
Carter appeared on the program on July 27 and discussed several topics, including the university's response to the state law this year banning public universities from having diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
He said Ohio State remains passionate about academic freedom but the university will follow the law.
"The principles of academic freedom, what is taught in the classroom, the move towards scholarly pursuit, the research that we do here at Ohio State, those are things that we are still very passionate about, and I know that we're going to continue that work,” Carter said.
The professors said that the assertion comes off as "empty rhetoric," and asked what the administration plans to do to support freedom of speech.
"The compliant posture of the current administration, bending to the whims of those who see university faculty and students as 'the enemy,' has seriously compromised and threatened academic freedom and freedom of speech at Ohio State," the AAUP letter said.
Ohio State closed its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Center for Belonging and Change earlier this year.
In an emailed statement Wednesday, Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson told WOSU that the university did that in response to the state legislation and federal executive orders, and that it has an unwavering commitment to freedom of speech.
"Acting proactively helped the university institute the changes in a way that maintained all student scholarships and financial aid, and allowed us to work with impacted employees to find other university jobs where possible," Johnson said.
The AAUP letter also mentioned the Faculty Senate voting in favor of joining a Big Ten alliance to defend the university against government state and federal overreach. But the university said it could not legally participate in a common defense fund.
"Faculty Senate voted in favor of such an alliance, raising the
question of who exactly represents the interests of faculty, staff and students in advancing and defending academic freedom and true diversity of thought on our campuses and in our civic life," the letter said.
"During the July (27)th interview Carter implied that attacks on higher education are an Ivy League problem. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the stakes of the attacks on–and precarious condition of–higher education today. He had an opportunity to stand with higher education leaders to address central challenges that universities and colleges across the United States confront, and to clearly articulate our common values. Instead, he deflected."
Johnson's statement noted that Carter was asked during the show about the freezing of billions of dollars in contracts at Harvard and Cornell universities and millions in research funding at Brown University.
Carter responded by saying "we've had some research grants impacted, but in the tens of millions of dollars, nothing like you're seeing at our Ivy League colleagues, and a lot of that is still in litigation."
