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AAUP Files Brief in Academic Freedom Case
The AAUP filed an amicus brief in December in a case in which a tenured faculty member at the University of Colorado School of Medicine was removed as chair of his department after he opposed decisions made by the institution’s board of regents. Robert Schrier, chair of the department of medicine, objected to a plan to move the medical school campus on the grounds that the move would have negative fiscal consequences and that it would disrupt integrated programs within the school of medicine. After his removal as chair, Schrier continued to serve as a tenured faculty member, and his salary was not affected.
Schrier went to court seeking reinstatement as chair, arguing that the university violated his First Amendment rights, his right to academic freedom, and his due process rights. In 2003, a district court denied his request, and he is appealing the decision. In denying Schrier’s request, the district court found that he had no individual right of academic freedom under the First Amendment.
The AAUP brief argues that academic freedom does have special protection under the First Amendment under U.S. Supreme Court and federal appellate court decisions. Accordingly, the AAUP argues that the district court erred in finding that Schrier’s status as a university professor serving as department chair entitled him to no rights distinct from those of any other public employee. The full brief is posted in the Legal section of the AAUP Web site.
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