The University of Kentucky is punishing thoughtcrime.
UK suspended tenured law professor Ramsi Woodcock for criticizing Israel’s conduct in Gaza on websites and at academic conferences. Woodcock circulated a petition to other law professors across the country that called for military action against Israel, and he has also argued that Israel should cease to exist.
Whatever one thinks of his arguments, those views are constitutionally protected political speech on a matter of public concern. And political speech is where the First Amendment’s protection is “at its zenith” — shielding his views as much as those who disagree with him.
But UK didn’t care about Woodcock’s First Amendment rights.
Instead, they publicly shamed his views as “repugnant” in a campus-wide email and banned him from campus.
This isn’t about classroom conduct. This is about a public university punishing a faculty member for voicing certain political views — off campus, to boot.
It’s a warning shot: If you say the wrong thing, UK will make an example out of you.
Woodcock has taught at UK for seven years, earning tenure in 2022. He graduated from Harvard Law and was primarily known for authoring a groundbreaking 2018 Yale Law Journal article discussing advertising in the digital age. But now students are deprived of his teaching — not because of misconduct, but because of his politics.
That should terrify everyone who cares about academic freedom.
Tell the University of Kentucky: return Professor Woodcock to the classroom. Respect free speech.
