On October 4, 2024, the United States Naval Academy (USNA) cancelled an invited talk featuring Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert on authoritarianism and a professor of history and Italian Studies at New York University. The cancellation came after several Republican lawmakers publicly called for the USNA to cancel the event.

USNA’s history department invited Ben-Ghiat to give the Bancroft Memorial Lecture, scheduled for October 10. Ben-Ghiat planned to speak about “what happens to militaries under authoritarian rule.” While Ben-Ghiat is a vocal critic of President-elect Donald Trump, who she has compared to dictators including Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, and Pinochet, her talk at USNA was intended to be nonpartisan.

On October 3, Congressman Keith Self, a Texas State Representative, wrote to USNA’s Superintendent Vice Admiral Yvette Davids, stating that the decision to invite Dr. Ben-Ghiat was “a serious lapse in judgment” and that allowing her to speak, especially just a few weeks before the presidential election, would violate a Department of Defense directive that prohibits the military from engaging in partisan political activity.

On October 4, USNA notified members of congress that the lecture had been cancelled.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the cancellation of a previously approved on-campus event, in direct response to pressure from congress people. External actors, including government officials and political actors have a right to free expression, but should not be permitted to impose undue pressure on universities’ academic decisions. Universities should take measures to ensure, wherever possible, that such decisions remain free from outside pressure and are driven solely by academic considerations. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, punishment aimed at restricting or retaliating against such expression undermines academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.alternet.org/authoritarianism-maga-pressure/
https://pen.org/press-release/cancellation-of-naval-academy-lecture-by-ruth-ben-ghiat-at-behest-of-republican-politicians-threatens-institutional-autonomy/
https://kiggans.house.gov/posts/kiggans-colleagues-send-letter-questioning-u-s-naval-academy-on-partisan-guest-lecturer