City University of New York: Administrative Attempts to Suppress Faculty Speech

On October 2, 2001, in order to provide a forum for discussion on the September 11 terrorist attacks, professors at the City University of New York held a faculty “teach-in,” during which several professors criticized America and its foreign policy. On October 23, the trustees of CUNY voted to condemn the “teach-in” as seditious. CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein issued a public statement condemning the professors who expressed anti-American views. Having approved the hiring and promotion of the very faculty who spoke, the trustees and administration now prefer that they not express their actual and well-known views.