Several national law student associations are calling for Amy Wax, a University of Pennsylvania Law School professor who for years has espoused openly racist rhetoric, to be suspended from campus and prevented from speaking to students.
The National Black Law Students Association, the National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, and the North American South Asian Law Students Association jointly released a letter on Wednesday, shared first with NBC Asian America, condemning Wax’s comments. In recent interviews, Wax has said that the U.S. would be “better off with fewer Asians,” and that “Blacks” and Asians are resentful of Western success.
“That Wax has been permitted to teach, supervise, and ridicule minority law students for over twenty one years is alarming,” the letter said. “Few understand how much more burdensome law school is for students who continuously receive the message that they are ‘less than’ or do not belong.”
The message, co-written by student leaders, enumerates action Penn can take to remedy the situation, including removing Wax from all teaching duties and investigating if her grading of students of color has been fair during her two decades at the school.
The investigation should be completely transparent to students, the letter says, and Wax should be suspended from campus grounds during the process. According to the law school’s website, she’s currently teaching two courses.
“It’s a bit scary thinking about the impact that she’s had teaching at Penn for so long,” Dillon Yang, president of the National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association and a second-year law student at Notre Dame University, told NBC Asian America. “Professors are supposed to teach the law in a neutral way, in ways that law students can form their own thoughts about the law. But clearly she doesn’t hide what she truly feels about the different minority groups in America. It’s hard for me to believe that it wouldn’t shine through in a classroom setting.”
“The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School has previously made clear that Professor Wax’s views do not reflect our values or practices,” said Meredith Rovine, a spokesperson for the law school. “In January 2022, Dean Ruger announced that he would move forward with a University Faculty Senate process to address Professor Wax’s escalating conduct, and that process is underway.”
