Camille Paglia, University of the Arts

Summary

Camille Paglia is a prominent social critic and professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Protests against Paglia began in April, 2019 when it was announced that Paglia would give a lecture titled “Ambiguous Images: Sexual Duality and Sexual Multiplicity in Western Art.” Student activists brought the talk to the student body’s attention online, and raised concerns to the university’s Title IX administrators. When University of the Arts administrators declined to cancel the event, students responded with protest. 30 to 40 minutes into Paglia’s talk, someone pulled the fire alarm, bringing the talk to an end.

Coming out of this event, as well as due to comments Paglia made in a Youtube video about sexual assault and in a 2017 interview for The Weekly Standard about transgender issues, students at the University of the Arts started a petition demanding her ouster and replacement by a “queer person of color.” To date, the petition had been signed by more than 1500 people. The petition also criticized David Yager, president of the university, for a letter he distributed as students started urging Paglia’s dismissal, defending academic freedom as vital to democracy.