CRT debate heats up in Nebraska as university professors deride proposal from regent

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents is set to consider a resolution introduced by Republican Jim Pillen, a regent who is also running for governor. Introduced to a board committee last month, the resolution would oppose "any imposition of Critical Race Theory in curriculum."

The resolution is not intended to ban CRT, although a host of University of Nebraska- Lincoln professors worried it would have that impact. In a statement Tuesday, the group argued the resolution was "anti-American" in that it allegedly attempted to silence discussion about important issues. "A politically constructed cultural war intending to hamper progress in dismantling racism that is grounded in distortions and misunderstandings should not be allowed the power to limit our freedom to discuss, examine, and disrupt issues around race and racism in an intellectual community like the University of Nebraska-Lincoln," reads the lengthy statement, which was signed by several professors and an academic retention specialist.