Scottsdale Community College: Administrators Promise Professor Will Apologize and Change Course Content After Student Objects to Quiz Questions

Near the end of the Spring 2020 semester, Scottsdale Community College professor Nicholas Damask administered a quiz in his World Politics course, which covered a unit on “Islamic Terrorism.” After controversy surrounding the quiz questions broke out on social media, Scottsdale promised Damask would issue an apology—written for him by a marketing administrator—to a student who complained about the questions, and that Damask would change his course content. After FIRE wrote to Scottsdale calling for administrators to cease efforts to force Damask to apologize or change his course content, the Maricopa County Community College District backed down and committed to establishing a committee on academic freedom.