At Kansas State University, the contracts of all faculty members were terminated after a Populist victory in state elections in 1896. Many professors were hired back, but Republicans were removed from the economics department and senior administrative posts. A few years later, Republicans regained control of state politics and did their own purge of the university. — Excerpt from The Development of Academic Freedom in the United States, Hofstadter and Metzger. —Ward & Newt & Tenure (Inside Higher Ed)

This article examines Newt Gingrich’s recent cry for the abolishment of tenure, in light of the Ward Churchill controversy (which continues, with the sighting of a buyout trial balloon).