The latest crisis for academic freedom has arisen at venerable Barnard College, where administrators removed pro-Palestinian statements from the website of the department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, saying political statements on department sites aren’t allowed. Though this occurred last fall, it’s only recently that the controversy has come to public attention. Observers are now choosing up sides.

I’ve long had a certain affection for Barnard, not least because my wife is an alumna. And I recognize that some controversy is unavoidable, because when passions run high administrators are caught in the middle. Nevertheless, here I wonder whether the school might have erred.