Kershnar Case Moving to Trial Phase

In 2022, Stephen Kershnar, distinguished teaching professor of philosophy at SUNY Fredonia, was told by his university president, Stephen H. Kolison, Jr., that he was no longer allowed to be on campus or have any contact with anyone on campus except a few administrators and university police. Why? It seems to have been the initially knee-jerk reaction of a university president, apparently unconcerned with academic freedom and freedom of speech, to a viral social media post from a conservative activist account that included selectively edited podcast footage in which Professor Kershnar is discussing the the strengths and weaknesses of different arguments concerning the ethics of sexual relations between adults and children. The details are recounted here. Despite his clear violations of Kershnar’s academic freedom and freedom of speech, Kolison has dug in over the past four years, not budging from his insistence that Kershnar be exiled from the university. Ultimately, Kolison shut down…