Penn Law Dean Ruger Responds To Comments Made By Professor Wax

Update:

• Debate Intensifies Over Potential Discipline For Penn Law Prof Amy Wax:  
• Penn Prof: Firing Amy Wax Could Open Door To Censorship Of Faculty Teaching Critical Race Theory

A Statement From Dean Ruger in Response to Recent Comments Made by Professor Wax:

Once again, Amy Wax has, through her thoroughly anti-intellectual and racist comments denigrating Asian immigrants, underscored a fundamental tension around harmful speech at American universities. Like all racist generalizations, Wax’s recent comments inflict harm by perpetuating stereotypes and placing differential burdens on Asian students, faculty, and staff to carry the weight of this vitriol and bias. Yet Wax makes these statements as a faculty member with tenure, a status that has done, and continues to do, important work in protecting the voices of scholars on a range of controversial topics including those who are actively challenging racism, sexism, and other inequities in society. The same academic freedom principles that permit current scholars to engage in critical and overdue analysis of this nation’s historical and structural discrimination — despite zealous efforts to censor such speech by some — also apply to faculty like Wax who voice xenophobic and white supremacist views.

That Wax’s speech may be protected does not permit this Law School to ignore the real harms such speech causes. As we have previously emphasized, Wax’s views are diametrically opposed to the policies and ethos of this institution. They serve as a persistent and tangible reminder that racism, sexism, and xenophobia are not theoretical abstractions but are real and insidious beliefs in this country and in our building. This reality sharpens and deepens our commitment to support our community as we continue to work to advance equity and inclusion.

• Above the Law, Dean Calls Amy Wax’s Remarks ‘Xenophobic And White Supremacist,’ Passes World’s Easiest Issue-Spotter
• CNN, Penn Law's Dean Calls Professor's Comments 'Anti-Intellectual' and 'Racist' After She Said the US is 'Better Off With Fewer Asians'
• The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn Law Professor Amy Wax’s Anti-Asian Comments Spark National Scrutiny
• The Hill, Law School Professor's Own Dean Blasts 'White Supremacist' Statements
• Law.com, Penn Law Dean, Philadelphia Bar Association Condemn Professor Amy Wax's 'Thoroughly Anti-Intellectual and Racist Comments'
• Brian Leiter (Chicago), The Truth Comes Out: "Amy Wax Is Not Woke."
• Philly Voice, Penn Law Professor Amy Wax Skewered Again For Claiming U.S. Is 'Better Off With Fewer Asians'

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Wax & Alexander: Paying The Price For Breakdown Of The Country's Bourgeois Culture (Aug. 13, 2017)
• Reaction To Law Profs' Op-Ed On The Breakdown Of The 'Bourgeois Culture' (Aug. 25, 2017)
• Penn Law Students Try To Ban Amy Wax From Teaching Civil Procedure Due To Her Breakdown Of The Bourgeois Culture Op-Ed (Sept. 10, 2017)
• Controversy Over Law Profs' Op-Ed On The Breakdown Of The 'Bourgeois Culture' Shifts From Penn To San Diego (Sept. 21, 2017)
• More Law Prof Reactions To The Wax & Alexander Op-Ed On The Breakdown Of The 'Bourgeois Culture' (Sept. 22, 2017)
• Reynolds: It Is Time Academics Preach the Virtues They Practice (Sept. 26, 2017)
• Penn Alumni Speak Out Against Breakdown Of The 'Bourgeois Culture' Op-Ed (Sept. 26, 2017)
• Wax: The Closing Of The Academic Mind (Feb. 19, 2018)
• Penn Dean Denies Amy Wax's Claim That He Asked Her To Take Leave Due To Controversial Op-Ed (Feb. 21, 2018)
• Heather McDonald: The Penn Law School Mob Scores A Victory (Mar. 19, 2018)
• Amy Wax: The University Of Denial — Aggressive Suppression Of The Truth Is A Central Feature Of American Higher Education (Mar. 24, 2018)
• Amy Wax Controversy Drags Penn Law Into Free-Speech Dilemma (July 27, 2019)
• Penn Law Removes Statement On RBG’s Death After Inclusion Of Amy Wax Quote Sparked Outrage (Sept. 29, 2020)