My roommate and I were debriefing our first week of classes when we went off on a tangent and began to talk about our favorite professors. I told her about my pick, who happens to have outstanding reviews on RateMyProfessor and gave incredibly engaging lectures. My roommate had the same professor but a different story to tell. She told me a story about how after the presidential election last November, my favorite professor made some kind of political disclaimer. Calling out elected officials by name, describing great political injustices, and to her, crossing that invisible line of addressing current events and sharing their own personal opinion. To me, that invisible line should not exist at all. I know my professors are well-educated and well-versed. If they are to educate us in our career fields, I also trust they can offer up an esteemed political opinion.
Gen Z is well known for calling out public figures for their lack of political participation. We speak out about our opinions online, repost articles on Instagram and talk about personal experiences in 60 second TikToks. If we can do it, then A-listers and celebrities with larger audiences should also use their platform to inform the greater public. But what about our professors? Should they be using their voice to educate the student body on the issues affecting our current society? Celebrities and influencers are expected to speak out online, but professors, whose expertise and knowledge is grounded in research and ethics, are expected to remain neutral? If students already immerse themselves heavily in political discourse, why do we expect the most qualified voices in the room to stay silent?
The University of Wisconsin has policies on free political expression on campus and in the classroom. Section I describes guidance for UW Employees. In summary, professors are left to speak at their own discretion but should be more conscious when speaking to students based on their power imbalances, according to the University Guidelines. Section IV covers political activity in the classroom. This section discusses how conversations or sharing of political views should only be done for pedagogical purposes and should never be done as an act of advocacy or persuasion.
There is striking hypocrisy between professors having to censor themselves while simultaneously charging them with the responsibility of shaping informed, opinionated and critical young adults. Universities, particularly our own being in a capital city, frame college as a place for students to grow into their activism and are deemed to be the heart of political movements. Yet, professors are practically encouraged to avoid contentious topics.
It should be noted in Section IV, the university explicitly states if students have concerns related to political expression they should discuss concerns with their instructor, a department chair or higher administration, according to University Guidelines. This kind of language should be raised as students have the capability to express their discomfort as it comes up. When given the autonomy, students can navigate conflict in responsible ways. Professors should never have preemptive restrictions placed on their speech because students rely on them to maintain complex conversation with civically engaged adults.
This criticism of academic freedom arose when Trump was elected for his first term in 2016. At the time, critical race theory and “woke” education were hot topics, but the debate continues. In January of 2025, Trump enacted the executive order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” framing narratives of white privilege, unconscious bias and gender ideology as indoctrinating anti-American and discriminative content on youth, according to The White House. The executive order led to funding cuts for DEI programs in higher education programs coupled with censorship of curriculum regarding topics of race and gender, according to Brookings.
To think discussing topics regarding gender, race, inequality and accurate historical injustices could be labeled as indoctrination is absurd. It is intellectually dishonest and frightening to believe conversations essential to our identities as students are currently seen as ideological threats rather than components of meaningful education. Institutions are policing what professors say as a means to create a narrow, patriotic identity at the expense of giving value to critical thinking. Schooling was originally intended to be a way to foster a democratic and civically engaged society. We are now replacing inquiry with obedience and in turn becoming farther removed from democratic engagement itself.
Universities are engines of liberal democracy. Our professors have the ability to not only inform but to inspire our generation to be active citizens and great leaders. They should not feel afraid to separate their personal views from learning, because in reality, those two things are greatly intertwined.
In one of my education courses, my professor showed us the video from The New York Times, “Dear ICE: Letters from Children Living in Fear”. Liam Conejo Ramos was a 5-year-old abducted by ICE. The video by The Times depicts his classmates’ emotions and response to their peer being wrongfully taken away. Some could argue broadcasting that video was crossing that invisible line into overtly political discussion. But by the end of the four minutes, our class was silent, sitting with the gravity of the moment. Some of my peers had tears in their eyes. We were all greatly impacted by the words of the students in the video. That moment was raw. It was off script. And it was probably not directly intertwined with any of the course learning outcomes. But my classmates and I learned more from watching a short video followed up by some empathetic and opinionated remarks by my professor than we would for the rest of the lecture. Because their opinions do matter. Even if they do not align with your own, or of the university for that matter, they serve as an example to amplify your voice, stand up for what matters to you and to never shy away from making a difference.
