thefire.org

Duke University: Administrative Ban on Faculty Member’s Website

At Duke University, the administration shut down a website after Professor Gary Hull posted an article entitled "Terrorism and Its Appeasement" that called for a strong military response to the terrorist attacks. FIRE took Professor's Hull's case to the print and broadcast media. Shamed by widespread publicity, Duke reinstated Hull's web page, but required him to add a disclaimer that the views expressed in the article did not reflect the views of the University. Duke has never before required any other professors to add such disclaimers to their web pages. That institution's double standard is now out in the open.

Case Materials

• "Duke University," October 24, 2001: At Duke University, the administration shut down a website after Professor Gary Hull posted an article entitled "Terrorism and Its Appeasement" that called for a strong military response to the terrorist attacks. FIRE took Professor's Hull's case to the print and broadcast media. Shamed by widespread publicity, Duke reinstated Hull's web page, but required him to add a disclaimer that the views expressed in the article did not reflect the views of the University. Duke has never before required any other professors to add such disclaimers to their web pages. That institution's double standard is now out in the open.
• "Professor Gary Hull's Disclaimer," October 24, 2001

Media Coverage

• "Pro or Con War Talk's Risky on Campus,"
  by Tom Mashberg, The Boston Herald, December 16, 2001
• "First: Casualty of War,"
  by Harvey Silverglate, The National Law Journal, December 3, 2001
• "Thought Police Spring to Action on the Campus,"
  by Jonathan Yardley, The Record, November 26, 2001
• "Ticketing the Campus Thought Police,"
  by Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post, November 12, 2001
• "Meet the New Boss... Same as the Old Boss,"
  by Vin Suprynowicz, Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 4, 2001
• "The Death of Free Speech in Higher Ed,"
  by Andrea Neal, The Indianapolis Star, October 31, 2001
• "Campus Hawks and Doves Find Speech is Not So Free,"
  by Andrea Billups, The Washington Times, October 1, 2001