WASHINGTON, DC — The American Historical Association (AHA) has sent a letter to Richard Corcoran, president of New College of Florida, expressing “deep concern about New College’s decision not to renew the contract of Erik Wallenberg, a visiting assistant professor in the Department of History.”
“Our apprehension stems from evidence that Wallenberg’s contract was not renewed because of his politics and his comments about institutional governance, rather than his qualifications or job performance,” the AHA writes. “Indiscreet tweets by a member of the college’s board of trustees [Christopher Rufo] raise concerns about the possibility of inappropriate governing board interference and a violation of academic freedom.”
On Twitter, Rufo mocked Professor Wallenberg’s curriculum vitae and referred to him and another faculty member as “pure left-wing Mad Libs. Luckily, both are visiting professors.” Rufo later tweeted, “New College will no longer be a jobs program for middling, left-wing intellectuals.” The AHA is concerned that the governing board inappropriately interfered with the decision about whether to renew Wallenberg’s contract.
“The United States has been through this before,” the AHA observes, “seven decades ago. What came to be called ‘McCarthyism’ was unacceptable then, and it is unacceptable now. According to the statements of a member of the college governing board, New College has committed a violation of academic freedom in its decision not to renew Professor Wallenberg’s appointment.”
The AHA urges the college to reconsider its decision not to renew Professor Wallenberg’s contract and emphasizes “the care that New College officers must take around both employment issues and well-established norms of academic freedom.”
Read the letter.