To the editor:

Recent events in Texas make the Kansas Board of Regents’ recently announced review of academic tenure policy very troubling. A lecturer was dismissed at Texas A&M for expanding upon gender questions in a children’s literature class, and a tenured professor at Texas State was summarily dismissed for statements made at a conference on socialist politics off campus (both actions are being contested). Angelo State University reportedly has issued a directive forbidding faculty members from discussing transgender topics in class.

These incidents demonstrate the faulty reasoning of tenure’s critics, who declare First Amendment protection of speech sufficient for academic freedom. In today’s fraught political environment, the additional protection that tenure status provides, with due process and peer evaluation required for punitive action, is more necessary than ever.

Beyond the classroom, tenure also makes it possible for faculty members to make hiring recommendations for future peers, and to evaluate colleagues for promotion and other forms of recognition, without fear of retribution. The same goes for participation in research, curricular reform, public service and other facets of professional conduct essential to the health of academic institutions. Without it, institutions such as KU could hardly function effectively in their manifold teaching, inquiry and service missions, at a level commensurate with their many current contributions to human flourishing.

John L. Rury,

Lawrence