Faculty Letter in Support of J. Angelo Corlett, March 10, 2022

Faculty are invited to sign their names to the below letter supporting the academic freedom of Professor J. Angelo Corlett by entering their information in the form at this link. Titles and affiliations are for identification purposes only. Please email facultyoutreach@thefire.org with any questions.

Dear Dr. de la Torre,

We understand that San Diego State University has removed Professor of Philosophy & Ethics J. Angelo Corlett from teaching and is planning to reassign his courses due to his uncensored mention of racial slurs in pedagogical context during the course of his teaching. Corlett said the racial slurs in the course of a March 1 lesson on the use-mention distinction, a concept in analytic philosophy which holds that it is necessary to distinguish using a phrase from simply mentioning it. Corlett defended his enunciation of racial slurs while illustrating this principle in the face of objections from students. The same day Corlett taught this lesson, SDSU informed him that it was reassigning his teaching duties, alleging “numerous student complaints” and asserting that it was “clear” he was “not effective in the course.”

As faculty, we are deeply concerned by this apparent violation of Professor Corlett’s academic freedom, which is protected by both SDSU policy and Corlett’s First Amendment rights as a professor at a public university. Furthermore, we worry about the implications of this case for faculty members’ due process rights. Preemptively removing a professor from the classroom is a serious sanction justified only in the most severe circumstances. Such a measure is wholly uncalled for as a response to a professor’s classroom speech demonstrably protected by academic freedom, even if that speech is found offensive or troubling by some listeners.

The various signers of this letter might have approached Professor Corlett’s material differently, and may have differing personal views and practices when it comes to the treatment of racial and ethnic slurs in the academic context. We’re joined, however, in recognizing that Professor Corlett’s expression is well within the bounds of his academic freedom when viewed in the context of his teaching, which endeavored to illustrate for students, by way of example, when the usage of certain terms is properly considered racist — all during a lecture in a course on critical thinking. Students are free, of course, to register criticisms of Corlett’s pedagogical methods, as Corlett undoubtedly recognizes. But mere offense over a professor’s exercise of academic freedom falls far short of the threshold for disciplinary action.

We urge SDSU to promptly return Professor Corlett to the classroom, and to make a clear statement in support of his academic freedom rights. We worry that failure to do so will have a prolonged chilling effect on faculty expression and send the signal to your faculty that they teach difficult and controversial material at their own risk. We hope that you will agree that this outcome, at an institution bound by the First Amendment and committed to the free expression of ideas, is one that SDSU can ill afford.

Sincerely,

Jason Aleksander, Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean of Faculty Success and Research, College of Humanities and the Arts, San José State University
Anna Alexandrova, Professor of Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University
Adeline Allen, Associate Professor of Law, Trinity Law School
M. D. Allen, Professor of English Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley
Anthony Anadio, Visiting Assistant Professor in History, SUNY Empire State College
Jonathan Auyer, Adjunct Faculty, State University of New York at Geneseo
Howard Baetjer Jr., Lecturer, Towson University
H. Robert Baker, Associate Professor of History, Georgia State University
D. Benjamin Beard, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Idaho College of Law
J. A. Bernstein, Assistant Professor of English, University of Southern Mississippi
Trent Biggs, San Diego State University
Bernard S. Black, Professor, Northwestern University
Russell Blackford, Conjoint Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Newcastle, NSW
Josh Blander, Associate Professor of Philosophy, The King's College
Peter Bornschein, Part-Time Lecturer, Department of History & Philosophy, Eastern Michigan University
Andrei A. Buckareff, Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Cognitive Science Program, Marist College
Ben Bradley, Sutton Professor of Philosophy, Syracuse University
Jason Brennan, Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor, Georgetown University
Dr. Frank Widar Brevik, Savannah College of Art and Design
David Brink, Distinguished Professor, University of California, San Diego
Robert Briscoe, Professor of Philosophy, Ohio University
Kingsley R. Browne, Professor of Law, Wayne State University Law School
Donald Bruckner, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Penn State University, New Kensington
Philip Cafaro, Professor of Philosophy, Colorado State University
Joe Campbell, Professor, Washington State University
Peter Carruthers, Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy, University of Maryland
Spencer Case, University of Colorado Boulder
Lee Cerling, Associate Professor of Clinical Business Communication, University of Southern California
Joseph Cesario, Professor of Psychology, Michigan State University
Eric Chwang, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Rutgers University Camden
Matt Cleary, Associate Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University
Jarod Clemons, San Diego State University
Nevin Climenhaga, Senior Research Fellow, Dianoia Institute of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University
Andrew Jason Cohen, Professor of Philosophy, Georgia State University
Jack Cotrin, Professor of Political Science, University of California Berkeley
David C.K. Curry, Professor of Philosophy, State University of New York at Potsdam
Marc J. Defant, Professor of Geochemistry, University of South Florida
Stephen Gilles, Professor of Law, Quinnipiac University School of Law
Marco Del Giudice, Associate Professor, University of New Mexico
Huzeyfe Demirtas, PhD Candidate & Teaching Associate, Department of Philosophy, Syracuse University
Lara Denis, Professor of Philosophy, Agnes Scott College, Agnes Scott College
Marisa Diaz-Waian, Community Philosopher & Director, Merlin CCC
Pedro Domingos, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington
Paul Elbourne, Professor of the Philosophy of Language, University of Oxford
Luc Faucher, Full Professor, Département de Philosophie, Université du Québec à Montréal
Mark Fedyk, Associate Professor, University of California, Davis
Neil Feit, Distinguished Teaching Professor, State University of New York at Fredonia
Ed Ferrier, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Richmond
Dr. Richard Ferrier, Tutor, Thomas Aquinas College
Barry Ferst. Ph.D., Professor, Philosophy Department, Carroll College
Graeme Forbes, Professor, University of Colorado Boulder
Jennifer Frey, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of South Carolina
Linda Frey, Professor Emerita, University of Montana
Marsha Frey, Professor Emerita, Kansas State University
Jonathan Gallant, Professor of Genome Sciences Emeritus, University of Washington
Dmitri Gallow, Senior Research Fellow, Dianoia Institute of Philosophy, Australian Catholic University
Molly Gardner, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Florida
Matthew Garrett, Professor of History and Ethnic Studies, Bakersfield College
Charles Geshekter, Emeritus Professor, California State University, Chico
Jeremy Goodman, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Jeremy Goodman, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Mark A. Graber, Regents Professor, University of Maryland Carey School of Law
Daniel Greco, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Yale University
Darij Grinberg, Drexel University
Shoshana Grossbard, Professor Emeritus, San Diego State University
Thomas Gustafson, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, San Diego City Collge
David B. Hershenov, Professor of Philosophy & Director of the Romanell Center for Clinical Ethics and the Philosophy of Medicine, University at Buffalo
Raja Halwani, Professor of Philosophy, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Philip Hamburger, Maurice & Hilda Friedman Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Nathan Hanna, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Drexel University
Matthew Hanser, Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Santa Barbara
Eugene Heath, Professor of Philosophy, State University of New York at New Paltz
Chris Heathwood, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Colorado Boulder
Jacob Held, Assistant Provost and Professor of Philosophy, University of Central Arkansas
Robert Hillman, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California, Davis School of Law
Rosemary Hopcroft, Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Frances Howard-Snyder, Professor of Philosophy, Western Washington University
Michael Huemer, Professor of Philosophy, University of Colorado
James Huffman, Professor and Dean Emeritus, Lewis & Clark Law School
James Humber, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Georgia State University
Stuart Hurlbert, Professor of Biology Emeritus, San Diego State University
William Jacobson, Clinical Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
Andrew Johns, Professor of History, Brigham Young University
Jeff Jordan, Professor of Philosophy, University of Delaware
Justin Kalef, Assistant Teaching Professor, Rutgers University
Zvi Kedem, Professor of Computer Science, New York University
Stephen Kershnar, Distinguished Teaching Professor, State University of New York at Fredonia
Peter D. Klein, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy Department, Rutgers University
Bernard W. Kobes, Faculty of Philosophy, Arizona State University
Vladimir Kontorovich, Professor of Economics, Haverford College
Matthew H. Kramer FBA, Professor of Legal & Political Philosophy, University of Cambridge
Christos Kyriacou, Assistant Professor in Philosophy, University of Cyprus
Andy Lamey, Associate Teaching Professor, University of California, San Diego
Marcy P. Lascano, Professor of Philosophy, University of Kansas
Gary Lawson, Professor, Boston University School of Law
Anne Lawton, Professor of Law Emerita, Michigan State University
Codi Lazar, Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, San Bernardino
Paul Leitner, Professor, Shippensburg University
Kim Lewis, Professor, Northeastern University
Tony Lima, Emeritus Professor of Economics, California State University, East Bay
Suzanne Lummis, Poetry Writing Teacher, UCLA Extension Writers' Program
Matt Lutz, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Wuhan University
Edouard Machery, Distinguished Professor, University of Pittsburgh
Eric Mack, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Tulane University
Ron Mallon, Professor, Washington University in St. Louis
JB Manchak, Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science, University of California, Irvine
Elinor Mason, University of California at Santa Barbara
Kenneth B. McIntyre, Professor of Political Science, Sam Houston State University
Michael McKenna, Professor, University of Arizona
Jeff McMahan, Sekyra and White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Oxford
Dale E. Miller, Professor of Philosophy, Old Dominion University
Francesca Minerva, University of Milan
Wes Morriston, Professor Emeritus, University of Colorado Boulder
Jeremy Mumford, Assistant Professor of History, Brown University
Peter Murphy, University of Indianapolis
Carol Muske-Dukes, Retired Professor, University of Southern California
Alastair Norcross, Professor, University of Colorado Boulder
John Oberdiek, Distinguished Professor of Law, Rutgers University
Eric Pacuit, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Maryland
Jonathan Parry, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, London School of Economics and Political Science
Dennis Patterson, Rutgers Law School
Steve Petersen, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Niagara University
Douglas W. Portmore, Professor of Philosophy, Arizona State University
Joel Pust, Professor of Philosophy, University of Delaware
Pradeep Ramanathan, Associate Professor, California State University, East Bay
Dr. Rodney C. Roberts, East Carolina University
John C. Rodrigue, Professor of History, Stonehill College
Mark Rom, Associate Professor of Government and Public Policy, Georgetown University
Shawn A. Ross, Professor, Macquarie University
Jacob Ross, Professor, University of Southern California
Jeffrey Sachs, Acadia University
Isabelle Sacramento-McJilton, San Diego State University
Ruth Sample, Associate Professor, University of New Hampshire
Andrew Sepielli, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto
George Schedler, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
John Schwenkler, Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University
Dustin Sharp, Associate Professor, University of San Diego
Laurie Sheck, MFA Writing Faculty, The New School
Tim Shiell, Director, Menard Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovation, University of Wisconsin-Stout
Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University
Brian Skinner, Professor, Ohio State University
Barry Smith, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University at Buffalo
Thomas Smith, Professor of Law, University of San Diego
Andrew Sneddon, Professor of Philosophy, University of Ottawa
Alan Sokal, Professor Emeritus of Physics, New York University & Professor of Mathematics, University College London
Lee Strang, John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values, University of Toledo College of Law
David Sullivan, Professor of Philosophy, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Donald W. Swanton, Associate Professor Emeritus of Finance and of Mathematics, Roosevelt University
David Talcott, Associate Professor of Philosophy, The King's College (NY)
Dr. Martha Taylor, Professor of Classics, Loyola University Maryland
James Taylor, Professor of Philosophy, The College of New Jersey
Michael Trigoboff, PhD, Computer Science Instructor, Portland Community College
Peter Vallentyne, Professor of Philosophy, University of Missouri
Chad Vance, Senior Lecturer, College of William and Mary
Pekka Vayrynen, Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Leeds
Jean-Paul Vessel, Associate Professor of Philosophy, New Mexico State University
Kevin Walsh, Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law
Ted A. Warfield, Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame
Brandon Warmke, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Bowling Green State University
David Weakliem, Professor of Sociology (Emeritus), University of Connecticut
Keith Whittington, Princeton University
Frances Widdowson, Former Independent Researcher, Mount Royal University
Clark Wolf, Director of Bioethics, Professor of Philosophy, Iowa State University
Stephen Woodside, Academy Professor of Philosophy, United States Military Academy, West Point
Scott Yenor, Professor of Political Science, Boise State University