After identifying four trends in political interference in higher education, a new statement on political interference suggests practical ways faculty members can counteract legislative interference and includes a sample resolution faculty members can adopt to call upon university administration to safeguard AAUP-supported principles and standards of academic freedom, tenure, and governance.

The statement appears at a time when fierce assaults on higher education are threatening the progress made on racial and gender equality. Discriminatory attacks on efforts to advance knowledge about race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability are inseparable from a larger and even more dangerous campaign against core academic values—including shared governance, academic freedom, and tenure—and learning itself.

The AAUP is seeking qualified candidates for the position of executive director in our Washington, DC, office. Application packets and resumes for this position will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Screening will continue until the position is filled. This position requires a commitment to racial equity and involves working with diverse individuals both inside and outside of the AAUP office.

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The AAUP condemns the escalating assault on academic freedom at the University of Pennsylvania and across the United States. Academic freedom and the autonomy of colleges and universities are being undermined by an opportunistic governmental interest in “antidiscrimination” and “campus safety” deployed to restrict what can be said or expressed on campuses.

A new report examines the abolishment by the Spartanburg Community College administration of the faculty senate, an action it admits taking to prevent the senate from voting to oppose the administration’s imposition of a policy requiring faculty members to be present on campus for almost forty hours each week.

Attempts to clamp down on free expression do little to combat the scourge of antisemitism or other unacceptable forms of hatred and prejudice including those based on race, gender identity, sex, and religion. Academic freedom and antidiscrimination initiatives can and should be pursued simultaneously.

A new report undertakes an in-depth review of a politically and ideologically driven assault unparalleled in US history. If sustained, this assault threatens the very survival of meaningful higher education in the state, with dire implications for the entire country.