academic freedom

Our Amicus Brief Against Florida's Stop WOKE Act

by Amna Khalid and Jeffrey Aaron Snyder

"The Supreme Court’s rejection of affirmative action in college admissions will provoke widespread debate. But not in the classrooms of Florida’s public colleges and universities, because the Stop WOKE Act prohibits it."

The Next Culture War Battle? College Accreditation

by Jeffrey Sachs and Jeremy C. Young

Officials in Florida and elsewhere are seeking to overthrow established relationships with accrediting bodies because those organizations help to shield universities against political censorship and interference with teaching and learning. 

Ohio Unions Link Academic Freedom and the Freedom to Strike

Ohio public sector unions say that a bill limiting faculty's power to strike is reminiscent of previous efforts to disempower public workers in the state, and are closing ranks around academic workers. 

DEI Bans are Tools for Seizing Control of Universities

Legislation in Florida and Ohio don't simply ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs; they infringe on the prerogatives of colleges to govern themselves without political influence. 

AAUP: Fight Tooth and Nail Against Florida's Higher Ed Agenda Because Your State is Next

Historian Henry Reichman, one of the preliminary report's authors, said the committee studying Florida's higher ed system under Ron DeSantis found abuses of academic freedom and institutional regulations to be more widespread than they expected, and warned more political interference is coming. 

Statehouses, not Stanford Students, Threaten Speech on Campus

by Eduardo Peñalver

Higher ed administrators have recently flexed their muscle in response to student protests of controversial speakers and demands for content warnings. They appear to have no such sense of purpose when it comes to defending free speech and free inquiry from legislative interference. 

Historian Don Yacovone: Florida's Restrictions Echo the Demands to Teach Pro-Slavery Argument

Jamelle Bouie's newsletter puts the current Florida controversy in light of a previous era's political demands about the teaching of history to justify one group's domination of another. 

New College Faculty Vote to Censure College's New Trustees

The censure motion, which was supported by 80% of the faculty, called the new majority of the Board of Trustees negligent in its fiduciary duty to the college because of noncompliance with transparency laws, failure to disclose financial conflicts of interest, and disregard for procedure in reviewing tenure applications. 

I'm Headed to Florida to Teach-In Against DeSantis's Education Policies

by Kellie Carter Jackson

This May 17 saw a 24-hour teach-in by historians in St. Petersburg, Florida, to protest the restrictions on curriculum, books and ideas pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis and his allies. As a historian of abolition, the author stresses that denying people the pen may influence them to pick up the sword. 

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Opposes Texas Legislation

"Truthful and inclusive discussions about United States and Texas history and their connection to present-day inequalities are essential to accurate and quality academic instruction."

How Media Discussions of Tenure Distort its Meaning and Undermine Academics

by Deepa Das Acevedo

Tenure absolutely does not provide "a job for life" for anyone, but the belief that it does is used to justify political attacks on academics. 

DeSantis Signs Bill Giving Legislature Oversight of Invited Campus Speakers

The concept of an oversight office to guarantee "intellectual diversity" has a long lineage on the right. Florida is the first state to require campuses to create those offices and require compliance and oversight. 

Free Speech Can't Trump a University's Obligation to Truth and Facts

by David Palumbo-Liu

A Stanford historian says that his own university's acceptance of Rupert Murdoch on the board of directors of the Hoover Institution is a rejection of the university's obligation to promote understanding over obscurantism. 

North Carolina Introduces its own History Bill; Historians Call Foul

State legislators say they are ensuring that students at North Carolina colleges are taught core concepts in American history. Historians Jay Smith and William Sturkey argue that, since the legislature would determine the content of a mandatory course it amounts to indoctrination and token coverage of Black history. 

The Labor of Teaching and Administrative Hysteria

by Elise Archias and Blake Stimson

Although diversity and cultural sensitivity administrators often embrace (and arguably encourage) student complaints about ideas presented in the classroom, students are more harmed when administrators use those complaints to undercut the expertise and autonomy of faculty who have effective ways of teaching difficult material.

Librarians Remind Faculty that Academic Freedom is a Labor Issue

by Danya Leebaw

"Librarians’ work is essential to the academic mission and also often comes under scrutiny from administrators, faculty colleagues, and the public."

Firing of Bakersfield College Prof. Conflates Protected and Unprotected Speech

Matthew Garrett, a self-proclaimed conservative and tenured professor, was fired for cause by his institution after many cases of controversial speech and some alleged violations of university policy. The university's "kitchen sink" claim against him undermines academic freedom and faculty free speech rights. 

Academic Freedom Battleground Shifts from Classroom to Institutions

by Jeffrey Sachs, Jeremy C. Young and Jonathan Friedman

Conservative leaders like Adam Kissel are advising lawmakers to defeat First Amendment protections for what professors say in the classroom by shifting legislation's focus to defining concepts as outside the bounds of academic disciplines and academic fields as outside the bounds of the university's mission. 

Academic Freedom is Vital to Developing the Critical Abilities Society Needs

by Jamie Merisotis

The push to restrict teaching "divisive concepts" in college classrooms is an authoritarian intrusion on the principles of academic freedom that have benefited America's students, economy, and democracy. 

Brown President: States, not Students, are Threatening Speech on Campus

by Christina Paxson

"It is ludicrous to claim that state-sponsored censorship — which carries the full force of the government and can even entail criminal penalties — is justified by student misconduct or peer pressure."