George Washington University rejected calls to remove Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas from its law school faculty by students and others frustrated over the judge’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and his urging to reconsider other landmark civil rights cases.
In a message to the campus this week, officials defended Thomas, who has lectured at the law school since 2011.
“Because we steadfastly support the robust exchange of ideas and deliberation, and because debate is an essential part of our university’s academic and educational mission to train future leaders who are prepared to address the world’s most urgent problems, the university will neither terminate Justice Thomas’ employment nor cancel his class in response to his legal opinions,” leaders wrote Tuesday.
The school’s stance, however, has left many students unsatisfied, said Jon Kay, a rising junior who started a petition demanding Thomas’s termination. The petition amassed nearly 9,000 signatures, including from people not from GW, in less than a week, and organizers are considering other ways to pressure administrators into changing course.
The conflict is yet another flash point in the college free speech debate, as students demand greater say over who should be on a university’s payroll and what ideas can be tolerated on campus. In another recent case in the D.C. region, students at Georgetown University’s law school similarly clashed with officials over Ilya Shapiro, a former administrator whose tweets...
Delhi Police has rejected allegations that Congress leader Deepender Hooda or any other politician has been placed under house arrest, describing the reports as misleading and baseless. The police...