Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship

THE ISSUE:

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Starting with then-Attorney General Jeff Landry's attempt to "punish" former LSU professor Bob Mann in 2021, multiple incidents at Louisiana universities have raised serious concerns about the erosion of free expression on our college campuses:

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• At LSU, tenured law professor Ken Levy was removed from the classroom without notice or a hearing, following remarks critical of Governor Landry and President Trump that were recorded and circulated. A district court issued a temporary restraining order mandating his return, citing violations of his free speech and due process rights. In February of this year, however, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal blocked the lower court's ruling, and in May the LA Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Left in limbo without being outright fired but without the ability to teach, Levy has now accepted a job as a visiting professor at Cleveland State University in Ohio. He continues to speak out in defense of his rights and the retaliatory nature of LSU's response.

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• An academic program manager at Tulane was fired this summer after creating a syllabus for a class on infectious diseases that included information about an outbreak of Polio in Gaza.

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• Another case coming out of Tulane involves the resignation in June 2025 of former director of community engagement and staff scientist from Tulane University’s Environmental Law Clinic. In her personal statement on the incident, Kimberly Terrell said, "I never imagined that, after seven years of high-profile success, my program would be gutted to appease elected officials and major donors who view the Clinic’s work as an ‘impediment’ to their interests. After weeks of targeted attacks on me by Tulane leadership, it’s clear that the only way to protect the work and interests of TELC is for me to resign." This stemmed from an article in Floodlight in which Terrell outlined the findings of a recent research project that showed Louisiana at the center of severe racial disparity when it comes to jobs in the petrochemical industry.

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• At Southeastern Louisiana University, Dr. Fereshteh Emami was removed from her position as principal investigator after her team uncovered toxic pollution in Lake Maurepas and she spoke out about their findings. Methodologies developed by Dr. Emami traced those pollutants, which include lead and cadmium as well as high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, to years of heavy industrial and agricultural runoff into the lake. After Dr. Emami gave an interview about the work to the Louisiana Illuminator in June of 2025, she was told by the university communications team that she should check with them before speaking to the press. Less than two months later, she was removed from the project altogether. University officials have insisted that Dr. Emami's removal from the project had nothing to do with her decision to speak out about what the team had found, first refusing to speak to a "personnel matter," then suggesting the action was taken because of data collection delays. Lawmakers, after meeting with SELU officials, seem satisfied with the university's answers. The university later elaborated on its reasons for Dr. Emami's removal, listing delays with data collection and site monitoring as their principal reasons. Her attorney, however, states, “It is implausible that this is the university’s true motivation: abruptly removing a project’s leader with no replacement does nothing to speed things up. We are working to determine the real reason for Dr. Emami’s removal and whether it is consistent with the university’s academic freedom principles and the law.” 

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• Also at Southeastern, the administration warned Professor of Library Science and head of Reference Dayne Sherman that his extramural commentary on issues such as race, crime, and state policy violated university media policies — effectively chilling his right to speak publicly as a private citizen. In response, the Foundation for Individual Rights & Expression (FIRE) wrote a letter to university President William Wainwright listing the incidents in which the university had violated Professor Sherman's free speech rights and affirming that "regardless of the extent to which he may have disclaimed that the views shared were his own, Sherman’s speech lies squarely within the realm of speech protected by the First Amendment." All evidence to the contrary, SLU then responded directly to Sherman, insisting, "The University has taken no action direct or indirect of censoring your speech, and...the University has not been presented with any evidence that you violated any policy nor that you were censored." ​​​Professor Sherman recently appeared on Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster to explain more about what's been happening to him.

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• Finally, in a remarkable example of what Timothy Snyder calls "obeying in advance," SLU's Faculty Senate has recently proposed an updated draft of the university's Academic Freedom and Professional Responsibility Policy, which, as Tulane University First Amendment Law Clinic notes, "threatens the very principles of academic freedom that it purports to respect." ​

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• And if all of that weren't enough, seven LSU students were recently arrested for speaking out at a public meeting of the university's presidential search committee. You can read more about the attacks on student free speech here.

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THE IMPLICATIONS:

 

In the past achieving tenure meant that professors with experience and significant contributions to their field were relatively protected from the ever-changing winds of university and governmental politics. Now, however, politicians such as Landry are openly calling for the tenure system to end. As a result, faculty across Louisiana report a pervasive climate of fear. Many now hesitate to teach, research, or speak freely — worried that offhand remarks might be taken out of context and weaponized against them. "We're terrified," one professor wrote in a recent survey.

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CONCLUSIONS:

 

Louisiana’s universities are meant to be bastions of free inquiry, rigorous debate, and intellectual courage. If we allow political intimidation, coercive messaging, or top-down censorship to prevail, we will not only betray our faculty and students — we will betray the promise of education itself.

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Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship will continue to monitor developments, support affected individuals, and mobilize public awareness. We call on all citizens, especially those who care about democracy, truth, and knowledge, to stand in solidarity and demand respect for free thought in our state.