On September 19, 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed the End Woke Higher Education Act (H.R. 3724) by a vote of 213 to 201 with four Democrats joining the Republican majority.
The Act has two main parts, combining two previously introduced bills: the Accreditation for College Excellence Act, sponsored by South Caroline Congressman Burgess Owens; and the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act, sponsored by New York State Congressman Brandon Williams. Both are excellent.
On accreditation, the Act ensures that accreditation standards do not require, encourage, or coerce any institution of higher education to support or oppose any partisan or political position. Notably, accreditation is a prerequisite for federal funding, a life line for many small schools.
Nor can accrediting agencies demand that institutions support “the disparate treatment of any individual or group of individuals on the basis of protected class” status (such as race). Agencies also cannot interfere with the religious mission of religious schools or encourage any school to violate any right protected by the United States Constitution.
In essence, accrediting agencies cannot use the accreditation process to advance political causes or compromise legal rights.
On free speech, the Act expresses the sense of Congress that “freedom of expression, open inquiry, and the honest exchange of ideas are fundamental to higher education” and it praises the Chicago principles of free speech, even encouraging schools to formally adopt them. It then condemns political litmus tests imposed on student applicants or faculty candidates “including a pledge or statement regarding diversity equity and inclusion or related topics.”
The section called Free Speech on Campus explicitly forbids schools from: 1) prohibiting “a person from freely engaging in noncommercial expressive activity;” 2) requiring political litmus tests; and 3) imposing unreasonable time, place or manner restrictions on expressive activity (read: no more “free speech zones”). What’s more, schools must annually disclose and publicize information about their free speech policies as well as how they assess security fees for campus events, and how constitutional rights such as free speech can be enforced, including by court action.
Finally, the Act requires schools to certify their compliance with these provisions as part of the paperwork to receive federal funding—that is, the Program Participation Agreement or “PPA” This requirement has long been advocated by the National Association of Scholars (NAS) so that schools attest, affirmatively, to changing their ways; a signed contract increases school accountability considerably.
NAS commends Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) as well as Congressmen Owens and Williams for getting this comprehensive and principled bill passed in the House.
Now on to the Senate!
To be sure, the need for this legislation is a sad commentary on academia.
But today’s college campus is too often the opposite of a place of learning, reflection, and civil debate. Instead, colleges are home to cancel culture: Students and faculty alike self censor when their views are not politically correct, especially on issues of race and sex. With good reason, even tenured faculty do not feel free to speak their minds: Too many have suffered terminations, smear campaigns or even forced escorts out of buildings.
While reform of higher education will require more than one Congressional statute, all public authorities—not just Congress but also state legislatures, Governors, Boards of Regents, and others—must do what they can to right these wrongs and get American colleges back to their original mission of education, not indoctrination.
That includes, of course, the United States Senate—next to consider the End Woke Higher Education Act. NAS is watching.
Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on Unsplash
