We need more professors to stand up for free speech.

The FIRE blog reports that one professor at Whittier gets it.

Whittier Law Professor Instructs Students on the Dangers of Censorship

A group of law students sent an anonymous letter to one of their professors objecting to the fact that she wore a “Black Lives Matter” T-shirt to class; her response has gone viral.

Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik verified the authenticity of the correspondence, identifying students at Whittier Law School in California as the authors of the original letter and Professor Patricia Leary as the author of the response. The students were offended by Leary’s T-shirt because they found it disrespectful. Professor Leary was not impressed with either their demand that she stop wearing the shirt or the logic behind it. Her rebuttal shows why one of the primary purposes of a university is to provide a “safe space” for the clash of ideas.

Jaschik characterized the students’ letter this way:

The letter said wearing the shirt was “inappropriate” and “highly offensive.” Further, it said “we do not spend three years of our lives and tens of thousands of dollars to be subjected to indoctrination or personal opinions of our professors,” and urged the professor to avoid “mindless actions” that might distract students at a law school where not everyone is passing the bar.

Leary’s response to the students’ demand that she keep her opinions to herself is curt:

Premise: You are not paying for my opinion.

Critique: You are not paying me to pretend I don’t have one.