Protect Academic Freedom and the First Amendment!

UPDATE, 4/13/2023:

Dear all,

I’ve finally filed my lawsuit against Cleveland State University! And, because my "complaint" is a public record, anyone can download it for free by following this link: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67021659/pesta-v-cleveland-state-university/

CSU's illegal actions have made me “unemployable” anywhere as a college professor, and my legal and other bills are mounting. I would appreciate help from donors interested in my cause. Also, many thanks to those who have already contributed (and I apologize for being remiss about sending individual “thank you” notes).

My obvious goal is that this lawsuit makes me whole, but I also believe a successful resolution of my case will do much to protect and preserve Academic Freedom for college professors, together with First Amendment Rights for all.

In brief, CSU fired me last year because of my viewpoint regarding the causes of racial and ethnic group differences in human intelligence (IQ). Yet, I had been researching this topic since 2005, and CSU had even “rewarded” me for past publications in this area.

In 2019, however, colleagues and I published a paper showing that genetic factors may partially explain why American Blacks average lower on IQ test scores than do American Whites. Given how "woke" seemingly every American university is today, it's not surprising that CSU ultimately fired me for expressing this viewpoint. But the viewpoint I expressed was derived only after competent and careful scientific observation.

America's current obsession with diversity has trumped whether we should accept (or even consider!) scientifically verifiable facts, when those facts are inconsistent with "the narrative." However, the pursuit of truth, as revealed by objective scientific observation, must eclipse considerations of whether some people might be offended by it. Isn't this the essence of Academic Freedom?

If you agree with my statements, please read the details below and consider making a donation. Thank you in advance for your support,

Bryan J. Pesta, PhD,

Independent Researcher and Cancelled Management Professor,

Cleveland Ohio

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Backstory:

I was a tenured full professor of management at CSU until 2022, when the school fired me for alleged “academic research misconduct.” CSU’s allegations against me, however, were clearly “pretextual.” As such, I have sued them to prove their firing of me directly and illegally violated my academic freedom and first amendments rights.

As a social scientist, one of my research streams focuses on human intelligence (IQ). Specifically, I am interested in why some people (or groups of people on average) are smarter than others. However, one cannot study this topic without addressing something researchers have known for over 100 years: IQ scores, on average, vary with a person’s race and / or ethnicity.

To wit, a large, persistent “IQ gap” has existed between American Blacks (mean IQ = 85) and American Whites (mean IQ = 100). Importantly, colleagues and I have shown (in various published papers) that this 15-point race/IQ gap has profound consequences for all Americans today. IQ scores—independent of one’s race or ethnicity—strongly predict critically important life outcomes. These outcomes include education and income levels, rates of crime, and even levels of mental and physical health. We argue that all these variables combined objectively measure human "well-being." As for the truth, IQ is intimately linked to individual differences in human well-being.

Figuring out the cause(s) of the race/IQ gap has not progressed much in the last century. For decades, researchers have tested whether numerous “environmental factors” (e.g., differences in poverty or educational opportunities) can explain the gap. Surprisingly, beyond very extreme environments (e.g., fairly extreme malnutrition), these factors do little to explain what’s going on here. Consider, however, the literally trillions of dollars the USA has thrown at these environmental factors, in the hopes of making race/IQ gaps go away. Yet, they are still here.

Today, though, we have high-quality genetic data that can help address the issue. In 2019, colleagues and I published a study wherein we attempted to control “race as a social construct” when predicting IQ scores from “race as a marker for genetic ancestry.” We found that even after controlling for the social baggage of self-identified race, genetics still explained about 50% of the reason for why average IQ scores differ across Black and White Americans.

[As an aside, please resist the counterargument that “race is just a social construct.” We agree! The whole point of our research here was an attempt to disentangle “social race” from “genetic ancestry.”]

Witch hunts against academics who express the "wrong view" seem ubiquitous in American culture today. CSU, however, did not outright call me a racist for my study (though many students and academics both internal and external to CSU certainly have!). Instead, the school hid behind numerous pretextual accusations that I had mishandled sensitive genetic data, or otherwise committed “academic research misconduct” when we conducted our study.

Fortunately for me, these pretextual allegations range from inane to illogical, and my lawyer and I shall expose all this as my lawsuit progresses. In the meantime, if you think my story is compelling, please consider a donation. Thank you again for your consideration.