Social Justice

The AAUP has long advocated for diversity in higher education and championed efforts aimed at ensuring that students of all races have equal access to higher education. In the face of recent attacks from the Trump administration, reactionary state governments and a conservative Supreme Court, the AAUP reaffirms its commitment to the crucial goal of ensuring that a diverse range of students have access to US colleges and universities. To that end, the AAUP pledges to work with faculty, college and university administrations, and social justice organizations.

The AAUP is committed to fighting systemic racism and pursuing racial justice and equity in colleges and universities, in keeping with the Association’s mission to ensure higher education’s contribution to the common good. Black lives matter, and Black and indigenous people and other peoples of color—including faculty and students—have the right to thrive and not just survive. The inequities, systemic racism, and implicit bias evident in US higher education institutions reflect our country’s failure to redress the harms caused by slavery and by centuries of violence and discrimination.

Academics who identify as women, gender nonconforming, or nonbinary sometimes face unique challenges to their entry and advancement in the academic profession, among them potential inequities in salary and promotion rates, sexual harassment, and discriminatory treatment.