FAIR News: Championing Academic Achievement and Religious Liberty
Newsletter
Dear Friends of FAIR,
FAIR is pleased to announce a significant victory for academic freedom and religious liberty. Dr. Marisol Quintanilla, an accomplished nematologist at Michigan State University (MSU), has been granted tenure following our advocacy on her behalf.
In October 2024, despite Dr. Quintanilla's exceptional qualifications—including 21 peer-reviewed publications, over $6.2 million in grants, and 189 extension talks—MSU's Department of Entomology denied her tenure. This decision appeared motivated not by academic merit, but rather by Dr. Quintanilla's religious convictions as a Seventh-Day Adventist.
Dr. Quintanilla had declined to identify her "gender" on mandatory university forms, believing these questions implicitly endorsed ideological positions contrary to her faith. After publishing an article critical of DEI policies in 2022, she faced demands to retract it and subsequently experienced what she described as "immense bias," including mockery from colleagues. Despite outperforming peers who received tenure—securing 10 times more funding and graduating 3-5 times more students—Dr. Quintanilla was denied advancement.
On January 10, 2025, FAIR sent a letter to Interim Dean Matthew Daum, detailing how the department's actions potentially violated Dr. Quintanilla's First Amendment rights and Title VII protections. Our analysis highlighted how requiring professors to affirm positions contrary to their religious beliefs violates constitutional protections against compelled speech. On May 13, 2025, Dr. Quintanilla received notification that her promotion to Associate Professor with tenure is supported by the Provost and President and will be recommended to the Board of Trustees in June, effective July 1.
Dr. Quintanilla's victory demonstrates that academic achievement and merit must remain the primary criteria for faculty advancement, and that religious liberty must be respected even as institutions pursue diversity initiatives. FAIR remains committed to ensuring that universities honor both excellence and freedom of thought, standing ready to provide support for those facing similar challenges.
Warmly,
The Team at FAIR
FAIR in Conversation: a Book Club For the Curious
When protestors at Columbia broke into a building and created illegal encampments, the student-led Columbia Law Review demanded that finals be canceled because of “distress.” Law schools used to teach students how to think critically, advance logical arguments, and respect opponents. Now those students cannot tolerate disagreement and reject the validity of the law itself.
Our FAIR in Conversations online event on Wednesday, May 29th at 7:00 p.m. will present Illya Shapiro's work in his book Lawless and facilitate a conversation around the themes in the book and how they relate to recent events on campus.
FITA Launch ‘Afraid to Speak Freely’ – Survey of freedom of expression in the arts 2025
We’re excited to share our newly released report, Afraid to Speak Freely, which delves deep into the current state of free expression within the arts.
This comprehensive survey of over 480 artists and professionals highlights some alarming trends—most notably, a widespread climate of self-censorship, fear, and professional reprisals. The report underscores the growing pressures to conform ideologically, with many artists now feeling that expressing dissenting views could result in career-ending consequences.
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Congratulations and thank you for the great work leading to Dr. Quintanilla's victory. Exactly what FAIR is for.
Just imagine the committee discussion that took place....
Member 1: "She's a christofascist bigot!!!"
Member 2: "Oh brother...."
Member 3: "Yeah yeah, but she's connected. We deny her appeal, we risk bringing Trump's people down on us."
Member 1: "#$%^&*&^%$#@ TRUMP!!!! @#$%^&*&^%$ ALL FASH BIGOTS!!!!!!!"
Member 2: "Do you want us to lose all our funding too, like Harvard? And have to go to court to MAYBE get some of it back?"
Member 3: ".....well...?
Member 1: "@#$%^&*&^%$#@!!!!!!" (flounces out)