Controversial Ivy League professor punished for ‘racist’ comments slams investigation

An Ivy League professor who was punished for her controversial views on black students and Asian immigration described the investigation into her comments as “bold, absurd” and “an absolute mess.”

Amy Wax, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, learned her fate this week after more than two years of ongoing investigation.

She will be suspended for one year with half pay starting in the fall of 2025, must declare that she does not reflect the faculty during speaking engagements and will face a “public reprimand by the university’s leadership.”

“It really was a kangaroo court,” she said in March of her pending suspension interview with Brown University academic Glenn Lourywhile she waited for the decision of an appeal.

She described her comments as “standard conservative views on very important social issues about group differences and group performance.

“Social issues are at the heart of the woke ideology taking over the university and are entirely open to comment and criticism.”

‘It’s brutal and absurd. What this report seems to say is that there is only one set of very narrowly defined statements or opinions one can make about these sacred protected groups. Blacks are obviously the most important sacred protected group.”

Wax’s comments over several years formed the bulk of the case against her, culminating in an appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show in 2022.

“Black students tend to cluster in the bottom half of the class, and it’s actually worse,” she claimed. This comment was disputed by the university and Wax was criticized for violating student confidentiality clauses.

“In my civil procedure class, they were in the bottom 10-15 percent of the class. Sometimes people would break out of there and even reach the top.”

In the complaint against her, seen by DailyMail.com, Wax was accused of making 17 comments that served as “examples of unfairly targeted disrespect” towards minorities.

She will be suspended for a year at half pay starting in the fall of 2025, must declare during speaking engagements that she does not reflect the faculty and will face a “public reprimand by university leadership.”

The University of Pennsylvania was reportedly willing to make a deal with Wax that would have limited sanctions

This included suggesting that “low-income students may create a reverse contagion, infecting more able and sophisticated students with their delinquency and rule-breaking.”

According to the report, Wax viewed being branded as a “racist” as a badge of honor and a “positive thing.”

The report quoted Wax as saying: “I have been called a racist. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been called a racist, and my opinion right now is, you know, being a racist is a badge of honor.

“Being called a racist means noticing the reality and for me that is something positive and not negative, which gives rise to praise and admiration.”

According to the report, she also said: ‘I think the crime problem in this country, I’m sorry to say, is overwhelming, especially within the cities, it’s a black problem. It’s a minority problem, okay?

“I often chuckle at the ads on TV that show a black man married to a white woman in an upper-class home. They never show blacks for what they really are: a bunch of single moms with a bunch of guys floating in and out. Children of different men.’

Wax’s position on Asian immigration was also addressed in the report. She was quoted saying, “As long as most Asians support Democrats and help advance their positions, I think the United States would be better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.”

“It really was a kangaroo court,” she said of her pending suspension in an interview with Brown University academic Glenn Loury in March as she awaited the outcome of an appeal.

In addition, nine incidents – under oath – were reported to the school by alumni and former students, which were considered harmful.

One of the most serious complaints involved telling a class that Mexican men were more likely to attack women, and emphasizing in another case that the witness was a black man, then referring to a black male student in the class by the name of the witness .

Wax was reportedly asked by a black law student to give her opinion on whether “black people are inherently inferior to white people.”

The report said Wax told the student, “You can have two plants growing under the same conditions, and one will simply grow taller than the other.”

Wax was also accused of remarking “finally an American…it’s a good thing, believe me,” after a series of students with foreign-sounding names introduced themselves.

On another occasion, she allegedly told a student that black peers do not perform as well as white students because they are “less prepared because of affirmative action.”

School Provost John Jackson Jr. issued a statement this week saying that “academic freedom is and should be very broad.”

“However, teachers must conduct themselves in a manner that expresses a willingness to assess all students fairly. The board has determined that your behavior did not meet these expectations, which has left many students understandably concerned that you cannot and will not be an impartial judge of their academic performance.”

The faculty hearing committee has concluded that you have engaged in “egregious unprofessional conduct” that is inconsistent with your responsibilities as an educator to provide all students with an equal opportunity to learn from you.

“That behavior included a history of making sweeping and derogatory generalizations about groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and immigration status.”

Jackson Jr. said Wax also “violates the requirement that student grades remain private by publicly speaking about law student grades by race… and, on numerous occasions, in and out of the classroom and in public, making discriminatory and disparaging statements to do. targeting specific racial, ethnic and other groups with which many students identify.”

According to a new report in the The free beacon of Washingtonthe University of Pennsylvania was reportedly willing to make a deal with Wax that would have limited sanctions.

The report said she should have signed a non-disparagement clause and that this would have prevented her from suing the school long-term.

“This case is about free speech,” Wax told the publication. ‘Penn wanted absolute silence. The big question is: why do they want to hide what they are doing?’

Alex Morey, vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the outcome should be troubling even for those who disagree with Wax.

“If that’s all it takes to circumvent a term of office, the rights of even the most protected private college faculty are tenuous at best,” he said.

Often, the time-honored principle of academic freedom is all that stands between the angry university administrator—or the disgruntled donor, or the social media mob, or the local legislator gunning for that professor’s job.