Isabelle Jung/Sun Graphics Editor

November 7, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Response to Valdez

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Re: Kotlikoff’s Gout: My Free Speech Suspension

Maria Lima Valdez may be technically correct that her call for the death of the vast majority of
Jews worldwide is protected speech under the First Amendment. But she goes too far when she
claims that her crude advocacy of mass violence is connected in any plausible way to “free and
open inquiry,” “a diversity of perspectives,” or any other idea that universities ought to value.
Threats like hers only intimidate would-be speakers into silence; a community dedicated to
production and dissemination of knowledge must reject such vile bullying.


— Daniel Lempert, Cornell Law ’27