An assault on free speech
Trinity College suspends professor over Facebook posts
By
Josh Varlin
1 July 2017
In a chilling attack on academic freedom, Trinity College has suspended Professor Johnny Eric Williams following Facebook posts he made regarding race relations in the United States. Williams has taught sociology at the small private liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut since 1996.
Williams was targeted by a right-wing media campaign after he shared articles and posts on Facebook dealing with issues of racism and white supremacy. This campaign, which misrepresented his views, inspired violent threats against both Williams personally and Trinity College, causing the campus to shut down on June 21. Williams and his family left the state of Connecticut due to the death threats.
In a cowardly capitulation to this campaign, Trinity College President Joanne Berger-Sweeney announced on June 26 that Williams had been placed on leave, without any faculty review. “The review by the Dean of the Faculty of the events concerning Professor Williams will continue,” her announcement stated, while making a boilerplate commitment to “engage in conversations” about academic freedom and the use of social media.
This statement came five days after a letter from the president devoted almost entirely to attacking Williams for his social media posts.
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has opposed the campaign against Williams and characterized both the threats against Williams and his suspension as attacks on academic freedom. In an email to Inside Higher Ed, Henry Reichman, the chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, bluntly called Berger-Sweeney’s June 26 statement announcing Williams’ suspension “one of the…