Political controversy sparks discussions of academic freedom, MC History faculty encourage disagreement and debate

The past month has been characterized by a flurry of breaking news headlines, heated online debates, intense emotional responses and calls to action from people all over the country, including MC students and faculty members.

Among topics that received a great deal of social media coverage was a gesture made by Elon Musk at President Trump’s inauguration event on Jan. 20—a gesture that many interpreted as a Nazi salute. 

Conversation about the gesture was particularly prevalent among Maryville College students because of an X post by MC’s Dr. Aaron Astor, professor of history, which was then quoted by several major news outlets around the world, including Time Magazine, CBC News and Le Monde, to name a few.

The post, in its entirety, reads: “I have criticized Elon Musk many times for letting neo-Nazis pollute this platform. But this gesture is not a Nazi salute. This is a socially awkward autistic man’s wave to the crowd where he says ‘my heart goes out to you.’”

Astor’s post quickly achieved viral status, and students immediately formed strong opinions; many students took to the anonymous social media site Yik Yak to express their thoughts.

Several seemed to interpret the post as a defense of Musk’s actions.

“Who else thinks we shouldn’t have Nazi sympathizers working at the school?” reads one anonymous post. 

Some were simply wary about the statement being affiliated with MC.

“Once you start posting controversial takes and you have Maryville College associated with it, then you’re not just bringing yourself into it. Whether you mean to or not, you’re bringing the College into it,” said one junior student, who also wished to remain anonymous.

Others defended Astor’s post; one Yik Yak user called the angry response “dumb,” saying, “he wasn’t defending Musk. He wasn’t even neutral towards Musk. He was anti-Musk.”

The concept of academic freedom provides necessary context here. Academic freedom is defined by the American Association of University Professors as: “the freedom of a teacher or researcher in higher education to investigate and discuss the issues in his or her academic field, and to teach and publish findings without interference from administrators, boards of trustees, political figures, donors, or other entities. Academic freedom also protects the right of a faculty member to speak freely when participating in institutional governance, as well as to speak freely as a citizen.”

The “right to speak freely as a citizen” is especially important, as this is extended to social media speech.

“When I say something on social media, I’m just speaking as myself, not representing the College.
I wouldn’t be called out for something I said on social media or in the public unless I tried to make it sound like I was making an official Maryville College statement,” explained Dr. Nancy Locklin-Sofer, professor of history.

She added that because Maryville College is a private school, members of the MC community are subject to even less scrutiny than public institutions might be, due to less federal involvement.

“We can’t have education at all if we don’t all have the right to speak freely, so that’s very important to me that that always be respected.” 

With strict character limits inhibiting how much one can say in a post on X or on Yik Yak, however, these sites are perhaps not the most conducive to nuanced conversations like this one. In interviews, Astor and Locklin-Sofer offered more complete perspectives.

“I don’t want to dwell much more on the Elon Musk gesture because, frankly, I cannot stand the guy,” Astor said, acknowledging the post’s virality and pointing out that several news outlets only quoted the second half.

“Without the first part of the tweet, it looked much more like I was fully defending him, which I certainly didn’t intend to do. I have family members who were killed in the Holocaust and certainly don’t take jokes about Nazis lightly,” he added. 

In response to one of the most common criticisms he got, Astor clarified that his intention was not to “blame” Musk’s actions on neurodivergence.

“I saw some autistic supporters of Musk on [X] who claimed his action was a result of his autism and others who said it was not,” he said. “Either way, nobody should ever claim that neurodivergence would somehow make one a promoter of neo-Nazis!” 

Much debate has gone on about the intentions and consequences of Musk’s actions, including debate about whether the intention even matters, given the public response.

“Musk has done far too much to promote neo-Nazis on his platform. That I don’t think his actual gesture was a literal Nazi salute does not in any way defend him against the charge of being a horrible person in so many other ways,” Astor said.

“I ultimately don’t think it matters what the gesture was intended to be. I thought it was a Nazi salute. That’s what I saw, twice. But I think the rest of what Musk does is damning enough on its own,” added Locklin-Sofer.

Locklin-Sofer also argued that it’s unproductive to get caught up in arguments about intention, because there are more important things to be concerned about.

“We’re shoving people we’ve decided are disposable out of the public eye and out of positions in the government. I mean, we’re shutting down government agencies. We’ve barely scratched the surface of treating people in accordance with the ideals of our founding, and we’re already rolling it back,” she said.

With academic freedom in mind, there is very little for the College to do in situations like this.

In times as divisive as these, disagreements between students, faculty and staff will likely come up more and more. Both Astor and Locklin-Sofer agree that these conversations are always much more productive face-to-face, and that it’s vital for professors to be willing to engage with students who challenge them.

“I didn’t know any of this reaction was happening at all,” said Astor. “I am always open to discussing these things in person. My own views are not necessarily set in stone, and I am often persuaded by students. It’s important for faculty to cultivate an environment where students can explore different ideas and not feel that they will be punished if they say the ‘wrong thing.’”

“It’s a good lesson to remember to always be critical,” added Locklin Sofer.
”When you hear ideas, even from somebody that you have great respect for, if they don’t sit well with you, then okay. Trust your own gut, and speak your truth

“Civil discourse is part of what we do here, and we have to question authority all the time. It’s always worth saying openly, ‘I disagree. 
I think you’re wrong.’ That doesn’t have to be the end of the conversation, but we can’t just eliminate everyone who we disagree with, or everyone we feel has let us down,” she said.