Attacks on academia are at a fever pitch as multiple state legislatures churn out dangerous culture war bills aimed at destroying various aspects of our higher education system, and ultimately damage our democracy. These threats are among the worst in the 108-year history of the AAUP. The press clips below only begin to document a month’s worth of news on this crisis and the stories of faculty fighting back—on campus, at state capitols, and in our communities nationwide.

We’ve seen times like this before, and they tend to directly precede periods of great progress. The robust organizing movement we are building in American higher education is a clear signal of a way forward.

Please browse the clips below on the great work being done by your colleagues and comrades nationwide to defend academic freedom and shared governance in the workplace and build a strong labor movement that is transforming higher education. If you’re on Twitter, please retweet the links in parentheses. As always, to stay up to date on all our work, follow the AAUP on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

AAUP Top Clips:

• Forget ‘Divisive Concepts’ – Colleges Promote The Critical Thinking Skills Critical For Democracy – Forbes (Tweet)
• What’s really behind a wave of college strikes – Philadelphia Inquirer (Tweet)
• “Our real power lies in collective action. You can’t hustle your way out of fascism” – The Baffler (Tweet)
• Strikes on campus: A chance to take back college from the corporations – Salon (Tweet)
• “When you start restricting DEI, you’re white-washing education”: Bills in NC and FL lead to faculty concern, protests – Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Florida:

• New College of Florida denies five professors tenure, defying student, faculty critics – Higher Ed Dive (AAUP president Irene Mulvey quoted)

Kansas:

• Emporia State Violated Key Principles in Firing 30 Professors, AAUP says – Chronicle of Higher Education (Tweet)

New Jersey:

• Rutgers union leaders approve tentative agreement with school less than a month after historic strike – CNN
• “The biggest win was the solidarity across ranks”: Rutgers faculty union approves landmark contract – NorthJersey.com (Tweet)

North Carolina:

• NC Republicans launch ‘most egregious’ attack in the country on UNC. Why? – News & Observer (AAUP president Irene Mulvey & NC AAUP president Jay Smith quoted, Tweet)

Ohio:

• “It’s an Atrocious Bill”: Students and Faculty Rally Against Massive Ohio Higher Ed Bill – Ohio Capitol Journal (Tweet)
• What is tenure and why do Ohio lawmakers want to change it? – Columbus Dispatch (Tweet)

Pennsylvania:

• As union-forming efforts proliferate at Penn, university workers say organizing isn’t going to stop – The Philadelphia Inquirer (Tweet)

Texas:

• AAUP Condemns Collin College on Academic Freedom – Inside Higher Education (Tweet)
• Texas Senate Approves Bill Eliminating Faculty Tenure – The Takeaway (Interview with UT Austin AAUP member Karma Chávez, Tweet)

In Solidarity,

Kelly Benjamin
AAUP Media and Communications