That’s why, last month, I proposed a way to rein in such investigations: Universities should empower their faculty to check administrators and DEI staffers who undermine freedom of speech. If professors—or perhaps representatives chosen by professors—could sanction and, in extreme cases, terminate anyone who violates First Amendment rights or free-expression policies, administrators would have a powerful new incentive to avoid speech-chilling excesses. Administrators and DEI officials can, of course, be disciplined or fired by higher-ranking university bureaucrats, but they are essentially unaccountable to the scholars and students whose expression they are stifling. Faculty members are more likely than bureaucrats to understand that free speech is essential to academic freedom. On many campuses, when administrators have infringed on faculty or student rights, professors—especially law professors steeped in First Amendment law—have been unafraid to speak up.

A spokesperson at American argued in an email to me that universities are legally required to review all discririmination complaints and added that “during the fact-finding process, no adverse action is taken by the university against any individuals.” He went on to say that American’s Office of Equity and Title IX “reviews only those matters related to a viable claim of discrimination and does not investigate matters related solely to disagreements based in speech.”

But Alex Morey, a FIRE attorney who wrote to the university on the accused students’ behalf, lambasted American’s approach. “This is absurd,” he stated. “There’s nothing even approaching harassment or discrimination in the chat. American cannot let its process for investigating actual discrimination and harassment be weaponized to investigate students’ opinions, but that’s exactly what’s happening.” One of the accused students, Daniel Brezina, was similarly incredulous. “I can’t believe American is investigating us for having a frank discussion about abortion access,” he said in a statement released by FIRE. “This is going to have a massive chilling effect on honest discussions at the school. What good could possibly come of that?” The investigation dragged into July before the students were told that they were not ultimately found responsible and would escape punishment.