One of the more common stories in higher education in recent years has involved leftist school administrators punishing or firing faculty members who annoy them by daring to disagree over the supposed benefits of DEI.
In today’s Martin Center article, I write about such a case at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Back in 2020, Dr. Norman Wang, a specialist in cardiology, published an article in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) where he argued that racial preferences in college and medical-school admissions were illegal and also bad policy. His language was reminiscent of the language of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his “I have a dream speech,” saying that each person should be evaluated on his or her own abilities, not as a group representative.
Of course, the woke mob went ballistic. His superiors at UPMC rebuked and punished him. They also joined the chorus demanding that his article be retracted. JAHA caved in, writing a groveling apology to the world for having made such a horrible mistake. With his livelihood damaged and his reputation smeared with the “racist” brush, Wang decided to sue.
The defense has pulled out all the stops trying to get the case dismissed, but the judge is allowing it to proceed. A victory for Dr. Wang would send a strong and much needed message to college officials that they cannot trample on the free-speech rights of faculty members.