Judicial Watch and Legal Insurrection Investigate University Retaliation against Professor Who Questioned ‘Systemic Racism’

Professor Charles Negy targeted after raising questions about leftist positions on race

(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch announced today that it has joined with Legal Insurrection Foundation to file a Florida public records request for communications at the University of Central Florida (UCF) related to Professor Charles Negy, who was attacked by campus leftists and the university administration after he raised questions about systemic racism.

In August, Legal Insurrection wrote that “After Negy questioned claims of ‘systemic racism’ and asserted ‘black privilege is real,’ [referring to affirmative action, etc.] there has been a university-wide pile-on, with Negy alleging UCF is soliciting complaints against him and conducting an abusive investigation in an effort to justify firing him.”

The UCF student senate passed a resolution asking for Negy’s termination, and there were protests on campus and at Negy’s home.

UCF President Alexander Cartwright participated in a campus protest an also took to social media, tweeting, “we do not tolerate hate speech and must be unequivocally anti-racist in our words, actions and online behavior. Whenever we find discrimination in our community, we will take decisive action to stamp it out.” Michael Johnson, the interim provost, told The New York Times that Negy’s views are “vile.”

Negy reportedly “has worked at UCF since 1998 and earned tenure in 2001, a status that can make it harder to fire him.”

The public records request asks for records mentioning Negy, Cartwright, and other university officials, as well as communications with governmental and professional academic organizations regarding Negy.

“The scourge of cancel culture won’t be cured in a matter of days, weeks, or even months. But sunlight is the best disinfectant, and we are committed to shining a light on the Negy case and other cases as well,” said William Jacobson, president, Legal Insurrection Foundation.

“Freedom of speech is under attack at the very institutions that should be encouraging it,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Intellectual discourse on college campuses has now been replaced by angry mobs trying to silence and end the careers of professors who present nuanced views.”

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