A Critical Policy Analysis of Book Bans in U.S. Public Higher Education as Marginalization of Intellectual Freedom

This conference paper presents the results of a critical public higher education policy analysis of book banning, censorship, and silencing of specific voices--usually those of marginalized voices and those who fight for the oppressed. United States public higher education seeks to provide an environment for intellectual freedom that allows college students to be exposed to new ideas and divergent perspectives that foster an intellectual life. Ideally, college students should encounter academic opportunities in higher education that enrich students' growth and worldviews. Yet, current trends in some U.S. states call for eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. This includes attempts to stop "Woke" and critical race theory efforts across several U.S. states. This paper examines these conservative ideological criticisms in the context of intellectual suppression, voice dispossession, and silencing, thereby promoting socially reproduced intellectual suppression in American higher education through book repression, limitations of book selections, and outright bans. U.S. higher education policy solutions are considered within a social justice framework to maintain academic integrity, First Amendment rights, and the intellectual freedom tenets expected as part of higher learning.