Recent News

Claremont McKenna College has been in the news recently due to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by CMC Prof. Christopher Nadon. As this site reflects, academic freedom is an absolute priority for CMC. The College fully endorses the Chicago Principles and takes them a step further through our Open Academy.
As CMC President Hiram Chodosh states in his WSJ Letter to the Editor, CMC has never demanded, censured, banned, censored, or otherwise caused any adverse reaction in response to faculty speech in the classroom during his nine-year tenure as president.
Although Prof. Nadon claims he was banned “from teaching any required courses into the future, seemingly into perpetuity,” he was never barred from teaching, never under investigation, never censored, and never censured. Nor were any other faculty.
For your reference, here are links to current news articles on the topic:
- WSJ Op-Ed open_in_new (Nadon) Censorship at a Top College for Free Speech published on Monday, Aug. 22.
- Washington Examiner open_in_new story, California College Disputes Professor’s Claim School Sought to Cancel Him published on Wednesday, Aug. 24.
- Inside Higher Education open_in_new story, Addressing a Professor’s Use of the N-Word published on Thursday, Aug. 25.
- Insider Higher Ed open_in_new column, “Pedagogy and the N-Word: Is there a pedagogical purpose for using the N-word out loud in class? Not for me” published Friday, Aug. 26.
- WSJ Letter to the Editor open_in_new (Chodosh) Claremont McKenna Responds on Academic Freedom: Prof. Christopher Nadon was never barred from teaching published on Friday, Aug. 26 and print on Saturday, Aug. 27.
- WSJ Letter to the Editor open_in_new (Nadon) How Not to Protect Free Speech in the Classroom: The Claremont McKenna president broadcasts uninvestigated, anonymous student allegations to the media published on Sunday, Aug. 28.
- CMC's Letter to FIRE open_in_new (Chodosh) Claremont McKenna College Response to FIRE published on Tuesday, Sep. 6 (FIRE redacted most evidence provided).
- UnHerd open_in_new(Nadon)My ‘free speech’ college is silencing me published on Sep. 5.
- FIRE Postings open_in_new