How is the sum of knowledge advanced? Through inquiry and the presentation of evidence.

Nobody at Harvard told Summers to shut up or stop speaking. They asked him for evidence. They presented their own.

That is academic inquiry. That Summers got his facts wrong and that his hypothesis could not stand up to even a moment's scrutiny is not a "witch-hunt" or "McCarthyism" or an attack on academic freedom. It just means that Summers was wrong.

What we saw was academic freedom in action. And it disturbed a lot of people.