Brigham Young Suspends Professor for 9/11 Theories

Professor Steven Jones from Brigham Young University was recently suspended with pay for publicly supporting conspiracy theories that imply the U.S. government was responsible for September 11^th. He is part of a loose network of academics called “Scholars for 9/11 Truth” that has released a series of reports criticizing the official government account of the attacks. Jones suspension raises some interesting questions about how institutions of higher education should deal with professors who hold controversial views.

Professor Jones believes that explosives, not planes, brought down the World Trade Center. Frankly, the conspiracy theories advocated by Jones are absurd. Publications such as Popular Mechanics have thoroughly debunked these myths. Still, Jones has the right to express unpopular viewpoints.

According to officials from Brigham Young, the issue isn’t freedom of speech—it’s a question of scholarship. Many professors have criticized Jones for having sloppy methodology and making unsupported claims. University administrators have suspended him on the grounds that he is not meeting the high academic standards set by Brigham Young.

If a professor fails to meet high standards, universities have a right to suspend that individual. Some might argue that James is being singled out because of his views. That may be true. Still, someone taking extremely controversial positions should be smart enough to aviod cutting corners while doing research. It appears that Brigham Young made the correct decision.