A Nevada Math Professor Who Was Disciplined for Criticizing Curriculum Changes Will Get His Day in Court
In 2019, the Nevada System of Higher Education decided that students who needed remedial math instruction could receive it at the same time they were taking college-level math courses instead of completing it as a prerequisite. In response to that new “co-requisite” policy, the math department at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMMC) decided to make its courses less rigorous. Those changes did not sit well with math professor Lars Jensen, who criticized them in two emails to TMCC faculty members and in a handout he distributed at a January 2020 “Math Summit” where “the community” was invited to discuss the curriculum revision.
Because of that criticism, Jensen complained in a federal lawsuit, he received a letter of reprimand and two “unsatisfactory” performance reviews, which triggered a termination hearing. Those disciplinary actions, he argued, violated his First Amendment rights by punishing him for constitutionally protected speech. Although a federal judge dismissed Jensen’s lawsuit with prejudice in September 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit revived his claims on Monday, ruling that the alleged conduct of TMMC administrators violated “clearly established” law, meaning they were not shielded by qualified immunity.
The 9th Circuit panel’s unanimous ruling in Jensen v. Brown “is a major victory for the free speech rights of academics,” Daniel Ortner, an attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) who argued Jensen’s case before the appeals court last November, said in a press release. “This decision will protect professors from investigation or threats of termination for their speech, and promote accountability for administrators who violate the First Amendment.”
In a December 2019 email to other math department faculty members, Jensen expressed concerns about the curriculum changes. The following month, Julie Ellsworth, TMCC’s dean of sciences, convened a meeting aimed at discussing the “co-requisite” policy “with the community.” But when Jensen tried to lay out his critique
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