Penn law dean seeks ‘major sanction’ against professor Amy Wax

Controversial University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax, whose “racist speech” and inflammatory comments have long generated criticism, once allegedly suggested that it was “rational” to fear Black men in elevators and that Mexican males were more likely than other men to assault women.

Those were among several new accusations of “inappropriate conduct” against Wax contained in a 12-page letter sent to the Penn faculty senate by law school dean Ted Ruger, who wants the senate to convene a hearing and ultimately levy a major sanction against Wax, that could include suspension or firing.

Wax did not respond to a request for comment over the weekend.

In 2021, she invited “renowned white supremacist” Jared Taylor to speak to her class and then have lunch with her and students, according to the June 23 letter, which was obtained by the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a group that advocates for free speech, and posted on its website.

» READ MORE: Penn law professor Amy Wax enraged people with her comments about Asians. Now, she may face sanction.

She told a Black faculty colleague that it is “rational to be afraid of Black men in elevators,” the letter said.

And when asked by a Black student if she agreed with a panelist that Black people are inferior to white people, she responded: “you can have two plants that grow under the same conditions, and one will just grow higher than the other.” The then-first-year student told a law firm hired by the school to investigate that she felt “powerless” to respond and had to “box in” her feelings in the face of racism.

According to the letter, Wax also stated in class that Mexican men are more likely to assault women and said the stereotype is accurate in the same way as “Germans are punctual.” And she allegedly commented in class that gay couples are unfit to raise children, the letter said.

“Wax has repeatedly used the platform she was granted when she became a professor at the university to disparage immigrants, people of color, and women, including law students, alumni and faculty,” Ruger said in the letter.

“Much of her public persona has become anti-intellectual: She relies on outdated science, makes statements grounded in insufficiently supported generalizations and trades on the university’s reputation to amplify her baseless disdain for many members of the university community.”

» READ MORE: Penn law dean starts process that could lead to sanctions on professor Amy Wax

Her comments and actions, which were made in classrooms and public forums, have harmed students, faculty and alumni and undermine the school’s core values, they said. They have led students not to take her classes, feeling they would be treated unfairly, and have caused anxiety for those who do, the letter said.

But FIRE said in a July 13 article on its website that linked to the letter that Penn should not sanction Wax for her speech.

“While members of the Penn community are free to denounce and challenge controversial statements, they cannot punish Wax for her expression without weakening free speech and tenure protections for all Penn faculty,” the article said.

Penn has condemned her statements in the past, and in 2018 removed her from teaching mandatory courses but has cited academic freedom in declining to fire her.

The letter, in which Ruger makes his case for action to be taken against Wax, is the latest step in a review process that Ruger initiated in January. The step followed comments that Wax made late last year that the country would be better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.

The law school declined to discuss the letter. It’s unclear how much longer the process will take. An email Saturday afternoon to faculty senate chair Vivian L. Gadsden, a proessor of child development and education, was not returned.

“Under the University of Pennsylvania’s rules, with the charges filed the propriety of Professor Wax’s conduct will now be assessed by a group of her peers on the University’s tenured faculty,” the school said in a statement.

The letter also detailed events that led up to and followed Ruger’s request for a review. It said that 10 alumni in a letter to the law school in April 2021 sought sanctions against Wax. That led the school to hire a former Northwestern University law school dean to investigate.

“His report credited many of the allegations made against Wax,” the letter said, “and revealed additional instances of inappropriate conduct.”

More complaints rolled in after Wax made her comments about Asians, and the school hired the law firm Quinn Emanuel to interview alumni, students and faculty, some of whose complaints were detailed in Ruger’s letter.

» READ MORE: Penn law professor Amy Wax makes more inflammatory comments on national TV

In March, Ruger shared the allegations with Wax and in May met with her to come to an “informal resolution.” That effort failed. Wax objected to the continuation of the review process given “health concerns,” according to the letter. Ruger said that he shared medical leave options with her, but that to his knowledge she has not requested one.

Wax has been enraging people for years with her comments. She has called into question the academic ability of Black students, and most recently in April on a national conservative talk show slammed immigrants who are critical of the United States.

“There is just a tremendous amount of resentment and shame of non-Western peoples against Western peoples for Western peoples’ outsized achievements and contributions,” Wax told political commentator Tucker Carlson on Fox. “It’s really unbearable.”

In starting the review process, Ruger said in January that Wax’s “racist speech is escalating in intensity and in its harmful nature” and that her comments’ effect on the university community have been cumulative.

Others, like FIRE, have encouraged Penn not to sanction Wax, a lawyer and neurologist educated at Harvard, Yale, and Columbia Universities.

“We regard this as a threat to Professor Wax’s tenure and her employment as a professor at the Law School, and a grave violation of her academic freedom,” Janet Halley and Lucas E. Morel, co-chairs of the Academic Freedom Alliance’s academic committee, said in a letter Monday to Penn president M. Elizabeth Magill.

They called on the faculty senate to end consideration of Ruger’s letter and exonerate Wax.

“Nearly all of the comments by Professor Wax cited by Dean Ruger are unquestionably protected by academic freedom, and none of her comments provide legitimate, non-pretextual grounds for finding a ‘major infraction of university behavioral standards,’” they wrote.