2023 AAUP Updates

The AAUP condemns the escalating assault on academic freedom at the University of Pennsylvania and across the United States. Academic freedom and the autonomy of colleges and universities are being undermined by an opportunistic governmental interest in “antidiscrimination” and “campus safety” deployed to restrict what can be said or expressed on campuses.

A new report examines the abolishment by the Spartanburg Community College administration of the faculty senate, an action it admits taking to prevent the senate from voting to oppose the administration’s imposition of a policy requiring faculty members to be present on campus for almost forty hours each week.

Attempts to clamp down on free expression do little to combat the scourge of antisemitism or other unacceptable forms of hatred and prejudice including those based on race, gender identity, sex, and religion. Academic freedom and antidiscrimination initiatives can and should be pursued simultaneously.

A new report undertakes an in-depth review of a politically and ideologically driven assault unparalleled in US history. If sustained, this assault threatens the very survival of meaningful higher education in the state, with dire implications for the entire country.

The AAUP has issued a request for proposals to obtain proposals from external vendors for the purpose of adopting a replacement for its existing website content management system.

A statement released today reaffirms the "right to hear" principle concerning the presence of controversial outside speakers on college campuses, and expands on the relationship between controversies involving invited speakers and increasing partisan political intrusion in higher education.

The AAUP condemns the climate of intimidation that now attempts to silence people who express unpopular views on the current conflict in the Middle East. College and university leaders have no obligation to speak out on the most controversial issues of the day. Their duty is to protect the academic freedom, free speech, and associational rights of faculty and students to speak on all topics of public or political interest without fear of intimidation, retaliation, or punishment.

The AAUP joins four other education advocacy groups, spanning from pre-K to higher education, in launching a Freedom to Learn pledge, highlighting how far-right attacks on public education and academic freedom are part of the same extremist push to hurt learning and undermine trust in public schools.