COLUMBIA — The University of Arkansas rescinded its offer for a University of South Carolina law professor to lead its law school after state politicians objected to her stance on transgender athletes, national and Arkansas media reported.
The Fayetteville, Ark., law school had announced Emily Suski, an associate dean at USC’s Joseph F. Rice School of Law who studies education law, as its new dean last week.
But the university changed its mind days later, after “receiving feedback from key external stakeholders about the fit between Professor Suski and the university’s vacancy,” a Jan. 14 statement put out by the University of Arkansas said.
Those “external stakeholders” included the top Republican in its state Senate, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported, and other GOP officials who opposed her hire after leaning she’d signed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that was supportive of transgender athletes.
Suski was not directly involved in the case about state laws banning transgender women and girls from participating in women’s’ sports, which was heard by the high court Jan. 13.
But she signed what’s called an amicus brief, a way for those outside a case to weigh in on it, arguing that the case should be remanded to lower courts.
That was too much for some in deep-red Arkansas.
“There’s no way the people of Arkansas want somebody running and educating our next generation of lawyers and judges (to be) someone that doesn’t understand the difference between a man and a woman,” Bart Hester, Senate President Pro Tempore, told the Arkansas Advocate.
Suski said in a statement that she was “disappointed and hurt” by the decision, and that she had been “honored” to be offered the job leading the Arkansas law school.
“I have been informed that the decision was not in any way a reflection of my qualifications to serve as dean but rather the result of influence from external individuals,” her statement said.
The decision was criticized by Arkansas Democrats and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a campus-focused free speech group, as an attack on academic freedom.
“The message to every dean, professor, and researcher is unmistakable: Your job hinges on whether politicians approve of your views,” Will Creeley, the group’s legal director, said in a statement.
Concerns about academic freedom have mounted in South Carolina in recent years, particularly since the start of the second Trump administration and plans for the USC system to join a new Southern accrediting body.
The most recent flashpoint came after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, when employees at multiple South Carolina campuses were fired after making or sharing remarks seen as insensitive or supportive of the shooting.
One, an assistant professor at Clemson University, was partly restated earlier this month after he sued the school.
The University of Arkansas note rescinding the hire said that the school decided “to go in a different direction in filling the vacancy.”
Also, that “University officials are very grateful for Professor Suski’s interest in the position and continue to hold Professor Suski in high regard. We wish Professor Suski well as she moves forward with her career.”