AAUP in the News

"The secrecy and force of the changes are akin to the massive disappearances of immigrants that are happening in our streets and to the history of forced disappearances of people around the world who are hunted anad targeted for their knowledge & beliefs." — Mariela Nuñez-Janes, Vice President of University of North Texas AAUP

“The students who fill our classrooms are building their future. They are owed professors who can follow evidence, ask honest questions and teach without measuring every conclusion against what the state has decided to permit.” — Tennessee AAUP member Grant Mincy in an op-ed published in the Hechinger Report.

“Demand letters to universities, a compact which is nothing more than a loyalty oath, ideologically driven state houses that are ending tenure and collective-bargaining rights, ending academic freedom — and you’re going to tell me I should be neutral?” —Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

“PSU-AAUP’s Executive Council is taking this step because the administration has not shown the university community a credible plan for recovery. PSU faces financial pressure because of more than a decade of mismanaged divestment and failures of responsibility. No matter its cause, financial pressure does not excuse failed leadership.” — Portland State University AAUP

“This executive order is a direct attack on academic freedom and the First Amendment—an attempt to coerce silence by threatening faculty, students, and federal partners who confront the realities of race and discrimination. In a democracy, higher education must be free to pursue truth, foster debate, and expand opportunity for all. Instead, this administration is using the power of federal contracts to impose ideological conformity. The AAUP has defeated these attacks before, and we are proud to stand with this coalition to do so again.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

“PSU-AAUP’s Executive Council is taking this step because the administration has not shown the university community a credible plan for recovery. PSU faces financial pressure because of more than a decade of mismanaged divestment and failures of responsibility. No matter its cause, financial pressure does not excuse failed leadership." — Portland State University AAUP

"All of this undermines the principle of shared governance, which has been a cornerstone of academic life since 1966, when it was first enshrined in the American Association of University Professors’s ​​Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities. As its name suggests, the principle holds that responsibility for managing university affairs must properly and meaningfully be shared among trustees, administrators, and faculty. It is precisely the joint nature of this enterprise that, among other things, marshals a crucial form of “viewpoint diversity” — one unmentioned by its self-styled champions — for the good of the institution. But those who want to diminish the faculty’s decision-making authority, or who think universities should be run more like companies, should be careful what they wish for" — Kirsten Weld, Harvard AAUP President

“Higher education anchors communities as major employers and cultural centers, and trains the next generations of nurses, engineers, astronauts. It creates opportunity, helping students to create better lives for themselves and their families. And what we’re seeing in Texas and beyond is a threat to all of that.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

"Ahead of the spring semester, both the Texas Tech and the Texas A&M University systems announced restrictions on what professors can teach about race, gender and sexual orientation. To ensure compliance, they implemented a review of course materials. Texas Tech hasn't said how many courses were canceled or modified to comply with the review. Texas A&M says it modified hundreds of syllabi at their flagship university and College Station alone. A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson says he was told to remove a reading from Plato that discusses the possibility of there being more than two genders."

“We must put an end to the degraded worker contracts and the contingency and the corporatization of the sector. We need a higher ed system that’s not rooted in students as customers, but rooted in critical inquiry and the development of smart, thoughtful citizens in a democracy who can see through the lies and stand up for the kind of society we want to build. That cannot happen without a strong, vibrant, free, autonomous higher ed system. That’s the vision we are fighting for.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President