LSU reinstates law professor suspended for political comments 

LSU has reinstated a law professor that it removed from the classroom for making political comments critical of Gov. Jeff Landry in early 2025. 

Ken Levy, a tenured professor of criminal law, will make his return to the classroom in the spring semester, two years after he was suspended from teaching. 

In an interview, Levy said he is excited to return to LSU, but said his treatment by the university will have a chilling effect on him and other professors. 

“I’m going to do my job and my job is to discuss controversial topics and material,” Levy said. “But I will refrain from what I deem gratuitous commentary.” 

In a letter to Levy, LSU Provost Joseph Messina warned the professor to keep classroom discussion to the subject matter. 

“Expressing personal political views and extraneous political commentary in your classes do not serve a legitimate academic purpose related to the course and are inconsistent with law and LSU policy,” Messina wrote. 

In January 2025, Levy was removed from the classroom after he made a profane statement about the governor during a law school class that made its way to Landry. 

“If Governor Landry were to retaliate against me, then f*** the governor and f*** that,” Levy told students in his Administration of Criminal Justice class. 

After Levy’s comments went public, Landry shared a series of social media posts lambasting Levy and LSU. 

LSU suspended Levy pending an investigation into his behavior. Such an action is rare and usually only happens when a professor is accused of a serious infraction, such as sexual misconduct.

LSU’s letter to Levy, which was sent last month, does not detail why he has been reinstated after being removed from the classroom two years ago. LSU spokeswoman Meg Sunstrom declined to provide any additional details explaining Levy’s return to the school. Levy said he was not provided any explanation as to why he could resume teaching. 

Landry’s spokeswoman Kate Kelly has not responded to a request for comment.

Shortly after his suspension, Levy sued the university to be allowed to teach again. Levy was still employed by the university and was being paid while suspended. 

In his lawsuit, Levy said that his controversial statements about Landry had been a reaction to the governor’s previous attempts to remove fellow law professor Nick Bryner in 2024. 

Landry publicly asked LSU to discipline Bryner for his remarks he made about President Trump the day after the presidential election in 2024.  A video of Bryner’s comments were sent to the governor, who then circulated the video on social media. 

“I don’t know if anybody falls in that category, but if you voted for Trump on the idea that you don’t like him personally but that you like his policies, I just want you to think about the message that that sends to other people and how you can prove that, by treating other people in a way that matches that sentiment,” Bryner told his students Nov. 6, 2024.

While using salty language about Landry in 2025, Levy said he also asked his students not to record his lectures because he didn’t want to be targeted by the governor. 

Levy’s lawsuit was appealed to the state supreme court, which declined to hear the case, leaving in place an appeals court decision that permitted LSU to keep him out of the classroom, though it barred LSU from firing him outright.

While Levy’s lawsuit is still listed as active, it is not being actively pursued. 

Levy said in an interview this week he believes he would have been fired if he didn’t have tenure protections, which make it very difficult for LSU to fire him for his speech. 

While Landry did not publicly call on LSU to fire Levy, he did suggest that tenure should be abolished. 

Tenure provides an indefinite academic appointment to qualifying faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in their field. Academics with tenure can only be terminated for cause, but it typically only happens in extreme circumstances. College faculty view tenure as a key part of academic freedom at universities and a shield against political, corporate and religious intervention.