"Seven Tenured HBS Faculty Speak Out" is the headline over a Harvard Crimson opinion piece claimed as being from Harvard Business School faculty members that says in part, "As tenured HBS faculty, we never imagined we'd need to speak out anonymously about our own institution." It includes an "editors' note" explaining, "We made the decision to run this op-ed anonymously due to concerns of retaliation against the seven authors."
The Brown Daily Herald reports that "On Monday, Talk for Tomorrow — a new group founded by students who have opted to remain anonymous — shared an open letter." The open letter explains "We're doing this as a private signing, to maintain the safety of all signatories."
Another Brown Daily Herald article includes this passage: "'I have family in Gaza, and multiple members of my extended family have died in the past few days,' wrote one student of Palestinian descent, who wished to remain anonymous for safety concerns, in a message to The Herald."
Later, the article said, "'I express my deep concern for Gaza, for the Palestinians who endure life under occupation and apartheid,' an anonymous Palestinian student wrote in a statement shared by organizers at the vigil." The same article went on, "'I grew up with the siege (of Gaza), as they say, but this was a whole new dimension,' another Palestinian student from the West Bank, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, told The Herald."
I had a letter in the Wall Street Journal ("Fear and Anonymity at Harvard") in November 2022 about students at Harvard writing anonymously for a conservative student publication, the Salient.
I don't know what it says about these institutions or the people in them that they don't feel confident enough or comfortable enough to attach their names to what they say. The leaders of both Harvard and Brown have publicly and repeatedly expressed commitments to free speech on campus. It's a trend worth watching. I saw it happening at Harvard. You might think it's ridiculous for a tenured Harvard professor to be afraid of being canceled, but actually some of them are particularly nervous about it, because they have relatively desirable jobs that they worked a long time and beat long odds to obtain. The students see the professors and heed the example.