University Health Services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has canceled a talk scheduled to be given by an addiction psychiatrist who said he has been “canceled” due to his outspoken conservative views.
Dr. Timothy Cordes, a UW–Madison alumnus and former employee — and the second blind person ever to be accepted to an American school of medicine — was invited to speak to a group of physicians and counselors who treat students at the university about the psychological effects of social media and technology use and what can be done to help combat the adverse effects.
The organizer of the canceled online event had invited Cordes to speak last year, and the talk was scheduled for early this March. But Cordes, a board-certified general and addiction psychiatrist, said he recently received a note from the organizer that the talk had been canceled.
“It seems like I’ve been canceled,” Cordes said in a telephone interview with The College Fix.
Although university brass claim some sort of scheduling conflict, the event organizer privately informed him that the UHS administration canceled his talk due to concerns that hosting someone with conservative views, which he has publicly expressed on his podcast and Substack, might have a “negative impact … on some members of the team.”
His “Ideas First” Substack and “Bald, Blind, and Buddies” podcast have focused on topics such as DEI and microaggressions with a critical eye, for example. He has also voiced support for Republicans.
“There is a clear driving ethos in higher education where you need to support the institution’s agenda, which may or may not be rational,” Cordes told The Fix. “It’s difficult when you’re trying to do a good job and have to fight all these battles just to express rational viewpoints.”
He received an official cancellation notice via email from the university, which The College Fix reviewed. The email stated his talk was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. However, there was no attempt to reschedule the event.
A spokesperson for UW-Madison told The College Fix via email the event was cancelled so UHS admin could meet to focus on changes they are making in their program.
“University Health Services (UHS) is currently going through an accreditation process,” said John Lucas, a university spokesperson. “As a result, leadership changed the purpose of the session to focus on the upcoming accreditation.”
Cordes said it’s important for people to speak up if they have been canceled.
“They may publicly claim a scheduling conflict, but that is generated to rationalize the decision,” Dr. Cordes said in an email to The College Fix. “This has been on the schedule for months.”
“I just wanted to point out that this is happening, and it is affecting how we might treat and help young people at this university,” Cordes added, referring to the physicians and counselors who treat students that would have listened to his talk.
“They’re being deprived of information,” he said.
Asked by The Fix about the irony of a university that touts DEI but cancels the talk of a blind doctor, Cordes said it’s interesting.
“It’s funny, but 30-plus years after the ADA, in 2023, there was still no braille signage in the UW’s main building (Bascom Hall),” he said. “Inclusion, as implemented by the UW, must mean something very different to them than it does to me, and I imagine much of America.”
MORE: UW-Madison has no updates on promised ‘conservative political thought’ professor role
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