This week, West Point is facing a lawsuit that should concern anyone who cares about free expression and the future of education. Professor Tim Bakken, a longtime civilian faculty member, has filed suit against the U.S. Military Academy, arguing that policies on campus amount to unconstitutional restrictions on academic freedom.
According to Bakken, faculty are required to seek approval before publishing scholarly work, restricted from using certain materials in their syllabi, and silenced when their views challenge official doctrine. In other words: educators are being told what they can and can’t say, not just in the classroom, but in their professional lives.
Why does this matter beyond West Point? Because academic freedom is a cornerstone of democracy. When teachers, professors, and researchers lose the ability to ask uncomfortable questions, everyone loses. Students get a narrower education. Public debate becomes thinner. Innovation slows down. And censorship, once normalized in one context, spreads.
This case comes at a time when the U.S. is already grappling with book bans, censorship in schools, and crackdowns on speech in media and the arts. West Point may be a military institution, but the chilling effect is familiar: don’t speak out, don’t publish freely, don’t challenge authority.
At Civic Goods, we believe in a simple principle: the right to read, write, and speak freely belongs to everyone. From classrooms to comedy stages to public protests, free expression is the heartbeat of democracy.
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