An Indiana University professor was formally reprimanded for violating Indiana’s intellectual diversity law.
Senate Enrolled Act 202 requires public college and university professors to teach “intellectually diverse” ideas and promote free speech in the classroom. Instructors are advised to only teach topics or share opinions directly related to their expertise.
Ben Robinson, a professor of Germanic Studies, was investigated after an anonymous complaint filed in November accused him of using class time to criticize the university’s free speech policies and Israel.
IU administrators began an investigation during the spring semester. Robinson was formally warned for discussing Israel and the war in Gaza, describing his personal experiences and criticizing the university, according to a letter sent by Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Rick Van Kooten.
In the letter to Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty, Van Kooten said it would be irresponsible for IU to ignore the complaint against Robinson.
“It serves as a formal warning to Prof. Robinson to exercise greater care in ensuring that personal experiences and opinions do not unduly influence his pedagogy,” said Van Kooten. “This complaint will be considered in any future faculty reviews.”
A university spokesperson said IU does not comment on personnel matters .
Robinson criticized the university’s response, accusing Van Kooten of deviating from policy and IU of conducting “a show trial.”
“It is not about me in the last instance,” Robinson said. “It is about chilling other faculty.”
It is unclear if other professors have been reprimanded over SEA 202 violations, but others have been investigated.
The complaint was filed as a bias incident with the Office of Institutional Equity, and then administrators reclassified the report as an SEA 202 violation, according to Robinson and Van Kooten.
“It is also true that an anonymous reporter obviously cannot be consulted about whether they wish university action to be taken,” Van Kooten said. “However, in this instance, they did not indicate that action should not be taken and given the SEA 202 legislation and the content of the report, the university is obligated to file the case as an SEA 202 report.”
Robinson said he has been harassed and targeted by national campaigns, which Van Kooten acknowledges in his letter.
Robinson said he has worked with Van Kooten for years. Robinson said he was given an opportunity to respond to the initial allegations against him, but for months heard nothing from the administration. This week, Robinson learned he’d been formally sanctioned in a letter he believes was edited multiple times by lawyers.
“I put my trust in him, and I was mistaken in doing so,” Robinson said. “he said, ‘I know you'll be disappointed.’ I said, ‘Disappointment is not the word for it.’”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, representing three professors from IU and Purdue University, attempted to stop SEA 202 with a lawsuit in U.S. District Court. A federal judge dismissed the case, though he did not rule on if the law violates professors’ free speech rights. The ACLU announced an appeal on Aug. 11.
Robinson believes the ACLU lawsuit influenced the investigation and warning he received.
“Everything about it is irregular,” Robinson said. “They clearly reverse-engineered it to be less vulnerable to the ACLU lawsuit or subsequent ACLU lawsuits.”
IU reported to the Commission for Higher Education it received almost 50 complaints over SEA 202 violations by December 2024. Most of those complaints, 37, were anonymous complaints considered protests against SEA 202. IU only classified nine complaints as legitimate.
