Metal arch with the name Northwestern University sits atop white stone columns with a backdrop of trees with green and orange leaves.

Why I am Suing Northwestern University—and the United States House of Representatives, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy

BY STEVEN W. THRASHER On July 20, I filed a lawsuit against Northwestern University and—in his official capacity as Chairman of the US House of Representatives House Committee on Education and the Workforce— Michigan Congressman Tim Walberg. The suit is also against various actors in the federal government who have pressured Northwestern, including Secretary of Education…

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Read the AAUP’s Report on “Extorted Compliance”

BY HANK REICHMAN Today the AAUP released a major new report—”Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, and Shared Governance”—prepared by a joint subcommittee of Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the Committee on College and University Governance exposing how the Trump administration has extended its pay-to-play approach to governance into higher…

A yellow folder labeled "DEMOCRACY" with "CENSORED" stamped in red on it, framed by American flags

Free Speech / Libraries

Who Will Tell America’s 250-Year Story?

BY EILEEN BORIS AND KRISTIN AHLBERG In an interview with journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, Donald Trump claimed to be a great man, on par with world-shattering figures like Mao, Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, and Genghis Khan—or so a “presidential historian” told him. That this presidential historian was the caddy for golfing star Gary Player…

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AI / Students

A Modest Proposal to Train Artificial Intelligences, Too

BY KEVIN W. CAPEHART In the last century, higher education evolved from serving an elite few to schooling a slightly broader swath of students. Yet even in the twenty-first century, too many universities remain too focused on trying to train only one kind of intelligence, human intelligence. In doing so, universities are discriminating against artificial…

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Budget Issues / Legislative Issues

When “Do No Economic Harm” Causes Harm to Higher Education

BY DANIEL SPARKS Federal and state policy landscapes are changing rapidly in higher education. In July 2025, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which includes a “do no economic harm” accountability provision limiting all colleges’ access to Title IV loans if programs fail to meet state earnings thresholds as determined by the Department…

Academic Freedom and the Palestine Exception at Princeton

BY JOAN W. SCOTT Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber has carefully curated his public reputation as a defender of free speech and academic freedom against the wanton attacks by the Trump administration. In a recent book, widely publicized and distributed by his university, he offers advice to others about how to maintain an atmosphere of…

Illustration of two hands, one human and one electronic, each touching one half of a brain

Why Accuracy Alone Is Not Enough

BY PRISCILLA JEBARATNAM Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming workplace practices, including how employee performance is assessed. Organizations are increasingly adopting AI-enabled evaluation systems because they promise greater consistency, efficiency, and objectivity. But an important question remains: Do more accurate evaluations automatically lead employees to perceive them as fair? A recent rapid evidence assessment examining…

US Appeals Court Strikes Down Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act”

BY HANK REICHMAN In a long-awaited ruling a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, on July 7 ruled that Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act” restricting how race and gender can be taught in colleges and universities violates the free speech rights of professors. As the AAUP’s Special Committee Report on…

Blue background with a white stick figure falling through two white lines, with a hand outstretched to catch it

The Floor Is Being Removed: SACSCOC, Auburn, and the Dismantling of Faculty Governance

BY GRANT A. MINCY Last year, when Tennessee’s HB2194 threatened to eliminate faculty peer review from tenure termination proceedings across the Tennessee Board of Regents system, those of us challenging the bill had a meaningful argument available: The bill created accreditation risk. SACSCOC’s Principles of Accreditation—especially principle 6.4 on academic freedom and principle 6.5 on…

California flag flying next to a legislative building

First Community College Student Workers Union Formed

BY ROBERT OVETZ The wave of unionization in higher education over the past decade has resulted in a new breakthrough. The first exclusive student worker union at a community college has been certified by the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). While there are some unionized student workers at private colleges and public universities, most…

A Big Win for Academic Freedom

BY HANK REICHMAN In a major victory for academic freedom and freedom of expression, on June 19 an arbitrator reversed San Jose State University’s despicable decision to dismiss a tenured full professor for her participation in pro-Palestinian protests, ordering her immediate reinstatement. The case of Professor of Justice Studies Sang Hea Kil has gained international attention. …

Academic Freedom and Democratic Governance for Learned Societies Too

BY DANIEL A. SEGAL We—meaning both faculty and the AAUP—know that when our teaching and research disturb powerful interests, we risk repression on our campuses from administrators, trustees, donors, and elected office holders. This has certainly been the case in recent years in the context of both the second Trump administration and widespread efforts to…

Why Connecticut Must Anchor the Future of Research

BY ION MORARU, NEENA QASBA, AND MARK MACIEJEWSKI This op-ed was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror on June 16, 2026. Two Connecticut chapters successfully pushed the state legislature and governor to backfill $35 million in state funds to offset federal research cuts at the University of Connecticut and its academic medical center. Read the…

AAUP Legal Update

BY VEENA DUBAL The following report by AAUP General Counsel Veena Dubal, Professor of Law at the University of California at Irvine, was delivered to the AAUP’s biennial meeting in Chicago on June 13 by AAUP Council member Samuel Bagenstos, Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, and received a standing ovation. I’m grateful…

SACSCOC Draft Principles Reveal CPHE is Not the Only Threat to Independent Accreditation

BY KATIE RAINWATER In 2011, Eric Barron, the then-president of Florida State University, gave a presentation to FSU’s board of trustees. His talk concerned how Florida could adopt and exceed the “7 Breakthrough Solutions” that the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a conservative, market-fundamentalist think tank, had put forward to reform higher education. The seventh…

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