Placed on watchlists. Harassed on social media. Threatened. This is becoming normal in an environment increasingly hostile to faculty. Over the last few years, targeted online harassment of faculty has emerged as a significant threat to academic freedom. Fueled by websites such as Professor Watchlist, Campus Reform, and College Fix, campaigns of threats and harassment are directed against faculty members for what they are reported to have said in the classroom or posted on social media.
The AAUP believes that faculty play an important role in a free society and work to protect your right to speak out without fear. Scroll down for resources, reports, and articles to aid you in the fight against targeted harassment.
Toolkit on Turning Point USA
Turning Point USA is a right-wing nonprofit with the stated mission “to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.” TPUSA is behind the Professor Watchlist, and isn’t too keen on transparency. Many of the donors who support the $8 million budget of Turning Point USA prefer to remain anonymous. That’s not surprising given that Turning Point’s work has sparked vicious campaigns of online harassment against faculty members.
- What is Turning Point USA? A Primer
- If Turning Point Comes to Your Campus
- A Guide to Organizing Conversations about Turning Point
- 50 Cases of Targeted Harassment
Planning Ahead: Guides for Dealing with Targeted Harrassment
- On Institutional Social Media Policies
- What You Can Do about Targeted Online Harassment
- Resources for institutions, funders, and researchers from the Research Support Consortium
Reports, Articles, and Other Resources about Targeted Harassment
- Academic Freedom and Electronic Communications (AAUP Statement)
- Targeted Online Harassment of Faculty (AAUP statement)
- Data Snapshot: Whom Does Campus Reform Target and What Are the Effects?
- Exhuming McCarthy (Meet Me at the Book Burning), an article about the faculty response to the Professor Watchlist
- Preparing Successful Responses (webinar recording and slides)
- Faculty First Responders: Understanding Right Wing Attacks on Faculty (a project supported by the AAUP Foundation)