More than eleven thousand new members joined the Association over the past year as membership grew by roughly 20 percent, buoyed by a remarkable rise in membership in advocacy chapters. This growth is a testament to the commitment of AAUP members across higher education to expanding the defense of academic freedom. It also reflects the exigencies of the current moment, which demand the fullest participation of higher education workers in the shared fight against the multi-pronged attacks on universities and colleges.
Faculty members formed new advocacy chapters at Amherst College, Bates College, Brandeis University, Brazosport College, Brooklyn Law School, Colby College, the College of Saint Scholastica, Davidson College, East Texas A&M University, George Washington University, Grinnell College, Lafayette College, Loyola University New Orleans, Northeastern University, Puget Sound University, St. Edwards University, Texas A&M University–Kingsville, the University of Alabama, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, the University of Texas–Permian Basin, and Western Colorado University.
New AAUP-AFT collective bargaining chapters were established this year at Ohio University and Nevada State University, where overwhelming majorities of the faculties voted to unionize.
Faculty members reactivated advocacy chapters at Case West ern Reserve University, DePauw University, Emory and Henry University, Georgetown University, Gwynedd Mercy University, Lake Forest College, Norfolk State University, Radford University, Saint Olaf College, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, the University of Pittsburgh, and Washington University in St. Louis.
The AAUP warmly welcomes these new chapters and all new AAUP members.