Statement on Garrett Felber Case

BY HANK REICHMAN The termination earlier this month of University of Mississippi assistant professor of history Garrett Felber, ostensibly because he declined to communicate orally with his department chair while on leave, has attracted considerable attention, including an open letter to the administration protesting his termination, which has to date attracted over 5,000 signatures.  Because…

Choose Your Own GPA at Northwestern

BY JOHN K. WILSON Northwestern University professors Jackie Stevens and Jorge Coronado, two officers of the Northwestern AAUP chapter, have an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times today titled “Hey, Northwestern students, choose your own grade point average!” The article criticizes a new Northwestern University policy adopted by the administration during the pandemic. As faculty members…

The David Horowitz Freedom Hating Center

BY JOHN K. WILSON The David Horowitz Freedom Center this month announced yet another campaign aimed at censoring free speech on college campuses. The latest effort is a Facebook ad targeting four left-leaning “America-hating” professors that the Horowitz Center claims has reached 100,000 people. One ad warns the University of Washington, “You have an AMERICA…

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Colo. Community College Adjuncts May Receive Winter Break Unemployment Benefits for the First Time

BY CAPRICE LAWLESS Here is our press release, sent yesterday. It is good news for our 4,600+ adjunct colleagues, a salute to the years-long effort of AAUP Colorado Community College System (CCCS) chapter members and the Colorado Conference Executive Committee. Contact: AAUP Colo. Conf. Co-Presidents Caprice Lawless, coloradocaprice@gmail.com Steve Mumme, Stephen.mumme@colostate.edu Dec. 21, 2020 FOR…

Open Letter for the Immediate Release of Jailed Academics and Civil Liberties Activists in India

POSTED BY JOHN K. WILSON We are members of a collective called International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India) and are a diverse group of diasporic Indian academics who are deeply concerned about the increasing assaults on academic freedom in India, in particular the attacks on, and incarceration of, anti-caste academics and scholars…

Call for Proposals: 2021 AAUP Shared Governance Conference

BY MICHAEL DECESARE Please mark your calendars: the AAUP will hold its shared governance conference online June 14 through June 18, 2021, and we are now accepting proposals for paper presentations on topics relating to academic governance. In addition to paper presentations, the conference will include panels, plenary presentations, and workshops for current and future…

Another Challenge to Academic Freedom at Collin College

BY HANK REICHMAN Back in October when Lora Burnett, a history professor at Collin College in Texas, was hounded by internet trolls for a comment she made about Vice-President Mike Pence’s appearance during the vice-presidential debate, her administration buckled under the pressure and publicly denounced her, ignoring their own policy’s written commitment “to uphold vigorously…