Thomas Emerson is often remembered as a leading scholar of the First Amendment, but his deeper legacy lies in his defiant stand against political repression during the Second Red Scare. Looking back on his life, we can see valuable lessons about how to navigate the treacherous waters of political persecution and rising authoritarianism.

In September 2024, an anonymous donor gifted $100 million to the University of Chicago to promote free speech. A closer look at dark money’s role in manufacturing campus free speech crises reminds us to be highly skeptical of understandings of campus speech funded by elite interests, especially when they replace institutional deliberation with a legalistic absolutism that leaves hierarchies of wealth and power unchallenged.

If endowments are fundamentally creatures of restriction, they are also in smaller measure creatures of interpretation and discretion. Universities should use what flexibility they do have to stand up for their programs, employees, and students – for the core constituents in a mission-driven environment – in this time of unprecedented assault.