College professors once regarded Wisconsin as one of the safest places to work, with the right to be tenured baked into state law. Then, in 2015, the state removed that right and sent dozens of instructors running toward the exits. Texas, where a professor was suspended this year for criticizing the lieutenant governor in a lecture, is part of what many in the academic community say is an alarming, concerted attack on higher education spreading across the country. Florida this year banned diversity programs and limited tenure, which, in part, protects college instructors from being fired for teaching controversial topics. In the past two years, universities or state legislatures in Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia and other states have also enacted or proposed laws and policies that strike at the heart of academic freedom.
