In the middle of the 20th century, trustees, elected officials, and others in the southern United States required black and white institutions to forfeit academic freedom protections when faculty research and teaching threatened to undermine white supremacy. In the early 21st century, faculty who critique white supremacy are facing similar attacks nationwide. In this article, the author, a historian of higher education, explains that for democracy to thrive, institutions of higher education must reflect democratic values, embed truth seeking into their research and teaching missions, and be insulated from partisan politics.