Is Penn turning a corner on academic freedom? Not so fast. Two weeks after its “academic independence” announcement, Penn sanctioned tenured law professor Amy Wax for her prior controversial comments on race, gender, and class. With this move, Penn made clear that its newfound appreciation for academic freedom runs skin deep, at best.

Since the atrocities of last October 7 and the subsequent campus unrest, 18 institutions have adopted institutional neutrality policies that resemble Penn’s. Their announcements have garnered cautious praise from defenders of academic freedom and free speech. Though it’s obvious that universities want to save face after their failure to condemn unequivocally Hamas’s massacre of civilians, there’s hope that these statements might still be a move in the right direction despite the flawed reasons behind their origin.

But the reasons that universities are taking these steps do matter.