Censure List

Investigations by the American Association of University Professors of the administrations of the institutions listed below show that, as evidenced by a past violation, they are not observing the generally recognized principles of academic freedom and tenure approved by this Association, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and more than two hundred and fifty other professional and educational organizations which have endorsed the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure.

This list is published for the purpose of informing Association members, the profession at large, and the public that unsatisfactory conditions of academic freedom and tenure have been found to prevail at these institutions. Names are placed on or removed from this censure list by vote of the Association's annual meeting.

Placing the name of an institution on this list does not mean that censure is visited either upon the whole of the institution or upon the faculty, but specifically upon its present administration. The term "administration" includes the administrative officers and the governing board of the institution. This censure does not affect the eligibility of nonmembers for membership in the Association, nor does it affect the individual rights of members at the institution in question.

Members of the Association have often considered it to be their duty, in order to indicate their support of the principles violated, to refrain from accepting appointment to an institution so long as it remains on the censure list. Since circumstances differ widely from case to case, the Association does not assert that such an unqualified obligation exists for its members; it does urge that, before accepting appointments, they seek information on present conditions of academic freedom and tenure from the Association's Washington office and prospective departmental colleagues. The Association leaves it to the discretion of the individual, possessed of the facts, to make the proper decision. 

Learn more about censure. 

Institutions are listed in chronological order according to when their administrations were placed on the censure list. The list contains only administrations which are still under censure (many others have been removed from the list after improving their practices and procedures). Reports through 2009 were published in the AAUP Bulletin or Academe, and the issue of publication is indicated in the "Report Published" column. Starting in 2010, reports were published first on the AAUP website, in the month and year indicated in the "Report Published" column, with print publication following in the next issue of the Bulletin of the AAUP. In rare cases, a supplemental report has been issued after the initial report. Clicking on the institution title will take you to the investigating committee's report.

(Note: To quickly find a particular institution, use your browser's search-page option.)