This blog post originally appeared on Academic Freedom on the Line, the Substack newsletter of the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom (CDAF). As we consider how to “defend” academic freedom, I think it is important to admit when it has been lost. Perhaps one day it may return, but at least for now, academic freedom is no longer present at one of the largest public institutions in the country. Texas A&M president Welsh declared, “This isn’t about academic freedom; it’s about academic responsibility,” but this this doublespeak can’t cover for what happened here. John Warner is a fellow of the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom and a writer, editor, and speaker.