Members of Stanford University’s information technology department once offered a “financial reward” to those who flagged and reported “racist terminology” on university websites.
The offer was part of a “Statement of Solidarity and Commitment to Action” program that debuted in 2020, but the financial incentive was raised during a late-January faculty senate meeting during which professors voiced alarm over what they contend is a growing Orwellian atmosphere on their campus.
Stanford scholars also cited the school’s “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative,” the IDEAL Anti-Racism Toolkit pushed on campus and the university’s relatively new “Protected Identity Harm Reporting” system as alarming projects stifling both free speech and academic freedom.
