Greenville Reporter

Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. issued a statement following the passage of H.R. 3724, the End Woke Higher Education Act, which includes two of his bills: H.Res 282 and portions of the Campus Free Speech Restoration Act.

"As a former member of a board of trustees and affiliate professor, I am deeply concerned about the erosion of free speech on college campuses and political activism by administrators," said Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. "Institutions of higher education are chartered to foster academic excellence and to prepare students for meaningful careers. Instead, they have become incubators of political activism and extreme progressive ideology. In some cases, even the most prestigious universities in our nation have descended into hotbeds of anti-American and anti-Semitic hatred. It is why each year I host a Campus Free Speech Roundtable to bring together lawmakers, experts, alumni and students to discuss academic freedom. Intellectual diversity is critical to the health of our institutions and our country.

"We need to restore sanity on college campuses across the country. I'm proud that my bills, H.Res. 282 and the Campus Free Speech Restoration Act, were included in this legislation. Academic freedom is central to vigorous debate and the exploration of ideas. We must celebrate differences in thought, not censor those who we disagree with."

H.R. 3724 includes several provisions:

- Prohibits accreditors from requiring institutions of higher education (IHEs) to support or oppose political or ideological beliefs in order to be accredited and receive federal funding.

- Prohibits accreditors from denying accreditation to an IHE because it has a religious mission.

- Requires all IHEs (public and private) that receive Higher Education Act (HEA) Title IV funding to annually disclose their free speech policies.

- Requires public IHEs to protect expressive activities on campus as a condition of HEA Title IV funding.

- Prohibits certain public IHEs from discriminating against religious student groups or single-sex organizations or from conditioning admission or hiring based on politics or ideology.

- Conditions HEA Title IV funding on compliance with this legislation.

- Establishes a civil cause of action for injured parties to sue public IHEs in court for violations.

H.Res.282 condemns universities that compel students during admissions or faculty during hiring and promotion processes to submit to specific political or social ideologies.

The Campus Free Speech Restoration Act requires public and private universities to report First Amendment violations to the Department of Education and publicly share campus policies on free speech; failure would restrict Title IV funding.

Watch my remarks in support of the End Woke Higher Education Act