The AAUP stands in solidarity with Steven Thrasher, the inaugural Daniel H. Renberg Chair of Social Justice in Reporting at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, who last week filed a lawsuit against Northwestern and against partisan government actors who pursued a targeted campaign against him that culminated in the termination of his position.
The campaign against him, waged by university administrators under external political pressure, stemmed from attempts by Thrasher and several colleagues to de-escalate tensions at Northwestern’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment in 2024 by forming a human chain between students and police officers. It included the filing of baseless criminal charges, which the county declined to prosecute; summary suspension and banishment from the classroom; an internal university investigation, in which a committee exonerated Thrasher and affirmed his right to academic freedom; and finally, a tenure denial which will result in the loss of employment after August—despite an exemplary research and teaching record.
This campaign represents a shameful and severe violation of academic freedom and freedom of speech. Rather than standing up for the right to peaceful protest and political expression, administrators capitulated to pressure.
Revelations of internal communications between Northwestern trustee Michael Sacks and former President Michael Schill exposed a toxic corporate governance culture where billionaire trustees felt empowered to dictate faculty hiring, override academic protections, and leverage vast financial influence to silence speech. This is a deeply concerning assault on higher education.
No faculty member, student, or worker should face the stripping of their livelihood for protesting a genocide or speaking out against corporate and political complicity. Academic institutions must serve as sanctuaries for rigorous debate, and free expression, rather than capitulating to the financial leverage of trustees or the political pressures of congressional intimidation campaigns.
The AAUP calls on Northwestern University to immediately reject external and donor-driven censorship publicly, restore Thrasher to his full teaching duties, and reaffirm its commitment to protecting the academic freedom and freedom of speech of faculty who report on, speak about, and bear witness to global injustices.