Penguin Random House (PRH) has offered its staff members an early holiday gift that underscores its mission to support freedom of expression: a membership to PEN America for half the rate.

Publishers Weekly reports that, in a letter to staff, PRH CEO Markus Dohle wrote: “As devoted advocates of the free exchange of opinions through books, we are living in momentous times.” He called upon his staff to “stand together to both celebrate and protect the freedoms that make our work and success possible.”

For employees who are already members of PEN America, PRH will donate half the amount of membership dues to the organization in their names, Dohle added.

PEN America’s executive director, Suzanne Nossel, said in response, “The U.S.’s thriving publishing industry rests on a foundation of protection for the open flower of words and ideas. We could not be more heartened and touched by Penguin Random House and CEO Markus Dohle’s decision to affirm these core values and engage PRH’s staff and authors more deeply in PEN America’s work to protect free expression and ensure that marginalized voices can be heard.”

Penguin Random House has also recently reaffirmed its commitment to diversity; in October, we reported on the launch of a new scheme called the #WriteNow initiative by chief executive of Penguin Random House UK Tom Weldon. Around the same time, PEN America also released its new guidelines on campus speech.

Related news: PEN America denounces a website, “Professor Watchlist,” launched by Turning Point USA, a conservative advocacy nonprofit, Melville House reports. The “watchlist” includes college professors from across the country alleged to “discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.”

Image Credit: Penguin Random House/PEN America.