The University of Pennsylvania has taken the significant step of suspending Penn Carey Law Professor Amy Wax. This decision follows numerous instances where Wax made derogatory comments concerning race, ethnicity, and gender. The suspension, which will last for one year at half pay, is set to commence in the fall of 2025. In addition, Wax’s summer pay and named chair will be revoked. University regulations mandate that she must clarify she speaks on her own behalf and not as a representative of Penn in future engagements, as noted by the school’s outgoing president Elizabeth Magill last month.
Provost John L. Jackson, Jr. emphasized the importance of academic freedom while maintaining that teachers are expected to assess all students impartially. According to Jackson, Wax’s behavior impairs her ability to do so, creating an unequal educational environment. This perspective was articulated in a public letter of reprimand published on the school’s website on Tuesday.
Wax’s controversial actions have spanned multiple Penn presidencies. Earlier in January 2022, around 1,500 faculty, students, and alumni appealed to then-law school dean Theodore Ruger to impose sanctions on Wax. Ruger later filed a 12-page formal complaint to the Faculty Senate Chair, prompting the school to hire Quinn Emanuel to conduct interviews with campus members. The allegations against Wax include statements and actions that have led others to reasonably believe they would face discriminatory treatment.
Despite Wax’s appeal to Penn’s Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility, the committee found no procedural defects, thereby allowing the University’s interim president Larry Jameson to proceed with the suspension. Wax and her attorney, David J. Shapiro, have not responded to recent requests for comment. Wax had threatened legal action against the university over such sanctions.
Wax has a track record of incendiary remarks and actions, including inviting White nationalist Jared Taylor to speak in her class multiple times. In 2018, she was barred from teaching a first-year course after stating that she had never seen a Black student graduate in the top quarter of the class at Penn Law. More recently, her appearances and statements, including those made on Tucker Carlson’s show, have further inflamed the situation.
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