Chicago City Wire

Freedom Speech Union is thanking University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer for coming to the defense of Prof. Dan Abbot who has been criticized for expressing his concern over how the university’s plans to approach Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

“On Friday, the @SpeechUnion launched a petition urging Chicago University President Robert J. Zimmer to issue a statement making it clear he would defend Prof Dorian Abbot's right to free speech,” the organization posted on their Twitter page on Nov. 30. “Yesterday, he did just that. Thank you, President Zimmer.”

Abbott was heavily criticized after he posted a series of videos on YouTube expressing his concern over the university’s DEI efforts he felt made it “extremely difficult for people with dissenting viewpoints to voice their opinions.”

According to the petition posted on change.org, soon after he uploaded the videos, over a hundred students and postdocs posted a letter claiming that Abbot’s opinions were a threat to the safety of “all underrepresented groups within the Geophysical Sciences Department.” 

The letter demanded that the university take action to reprimand Abbot and strip him of his departmental titles, courses and privileges.

In a statement released on Nov. 29 in response to Free Speech Union’s petition, Zimmer defended Abbot’s first amendment rights and said the university has always welcomed varying opinions from its faculty.

“We believe universities have an important role as places where novel and even controversial ideas can be proposed, tested and debated,” the statement read. “For this reason, the University does not limit the comments of faculty members, mandate apologies, or impose other disciplinary consequences for such comments, unless there has been a violation of University policy or the law.”