There’s An Intensifying Kind Of Threat To Academic Freedom
Texas A&M University told philosophy professor Martin Peterson in early January 2026 that he could not teach some of Greek philosopher Plato’s writings that touch on “race and gender ideology.”
The university’s local chapter of the American Association of University Professors, an organization of professors and academics in the U.S., quickly denounced this requirement.
Peterson, in response to his university’s direction, replaced the Plato readings with material on free speech and academic freedom.
Silencing a professor from teaching a certain subject fits within what experts have long recognized as encroaching on academic freedom.