Responding to Legislative Attacks on Education

Our students deserve quality education that includes difficult truths and many perspectives. But politicians in some states are trying to substitute their own ideological beliefs for educational freedom, especially on topics like race and gender. Join us for a discussion of these efforts to suppress teaching and learning and how we can respond. We’ll discuss the state of this legislation, an AAUP task force on the issue, and review a new guide for campus leaders out from PEN America and the American Council on Education, Making the Case for Academic Freedom and Institutional Autonomy in a Challenging Political Environment.

Presenters:

• Jennifer Ruth is a professor in the School of Film at Portland State University and a member of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom. She is a contributing editor to the Academe blog and served for two years as the faculty editor of the Journal of Academic Freedom. Her most recent book, co-authored with Michael Bérubé, is It’s Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom (2022).
• Jeremy C. Young is the senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America. In this role, he advances PEN America’s advocacy for free expression in educational institutions, advocates against censorious legislation and politically-motivated efforts to ban concepts and curricular materials, and supports academic freedom in higher education and the freedom to read, learn, and teach in K-12 schools. A former history professor, Young holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Indiana University and is the author of The Age of Charisma: Leaders, Followers, and Emotions in American Society, 1870-1940.
• Steven Bloom is assistant vice president for government relations at the American Council on Education. His primary focus is on tax issues, endowments, health care reform, immigration and international issues, labor and employment, and so-called “divisive concepts.”
• Derryn Moten is a professor of history and political science at Alabama State University and serves on the AAUP's Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. He is vice president of the Alabama AFL-CIO chapter and co-chair of the AFT Higher Education Policy and Planning Council.

Register here.