Murphy Applauds Passage of End Woke Higher Education Act

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. issued the following statement in response to the passage of H.R. 3724, the End Woke Higher Education Act, legislation that included two of his bills, H.Res 282 and portions of the Campus Free Speech Restoration Act.

"As a former member of a board of trustees and affiliate professor, I am deeply concerned about the erosion of free speech on college campuses and political activism by administrators," said Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. "Institutions of higher education are chartered to foster academic excellence and to prepare students for meaningful careers. Instead, they have become incubators of political activism and extreme progressive ideology. In some cases, even the most prestigious universities in our nation have descended into hotbeds of anti-American and anti-Semitic hatred. It is why each year I host a Campus Free Speech Roundtable to bring together lawmakers, experts, alumni and students to discuss academic freedom. Intellectual diversity is critical to the health of our institutions and our country. 

"We need to restore sanity on college campuses across the country. I'm proud that my bills, H.Res. 282 and the Campus Free Speech Restoration Act, were included in this legislation. Academic freedom is central to vigorous debate and the exploration of ideas. We must celebrate differences in thought, not censor those who we disagree with."

Background

H.R. 3724, the End Woke Higher Education Act does the following:

• Prohibits accreditors from requiring institutions of higher education (IHEs) to support or oppose political or ideological beliefs in order to be accredited and receive federal funding.
• Prohibits accreditors from denying accreditation to an IHE just because the IHE has a religious mission.
• Requires all IHEs (public and private) that receive Higher Education Act (HEA) Title IV funding to annually disclose their free speech policies.
• Requires public IHEs to protect expressive activities on campus as a condition of HEA Title IV funding.
• Prohibits certain public IHEs from discriminating against religious student groups or single-sex organizations, or from conditioning the admission or hiring of students or faculty on the basis of politics or ideology.
• Conditions HEA Title IV funding to IHEs on compliance with this legislation.
• Establishes a civil cause of action for injured parties to sue public IHEs in court for violating this legislation.  

H.Res.282 is a resolution condemning universities that compel students during the admissions process or faculty during the hiring and promotion process to submit to certain political or social ideologies.

Campus Free Speech Restoration Act requires public and private universities to report First Amendment violations to the Department of Education and publicly share campus policies on free speech. Failure to do so would restrict Title IV funding.

Watch my remarks in support of the End Woke Higher Education Act