BY BILL V. MULLEN

A dangerous and broadly worded bill making faculty vulnerable to termination for not conforming to a state legislature’s definition of political diversity will likely be voted on by the Indiana state legislature on Tuesday, February 27th. Senate Bill 202 mandates that in order to receive tenure faculty must demonstrate that they have provided “intellectual diversity” in their classroom, have offered politically diverse resources regardless of the topic under study, and most egregiously, have not subjected students to a political or ideological point of view unrelated to their academic discipline. The bill was passed forward in a party-line vote by the House Education Committee on Wednesday, February 21st.

The bill’s most prominent sponsor, Senator Spencer Deery, has openly proclaimed an intent to change perceptions that universities are hostile to conservative points of view. Prior to becoming Senator, Deery worked for several years under former Purdue President Mitch Daniels. This may explain why Purdue administrators have been publicly mute about the legislation, despite being challenged to do so in the university academic senate, which passed a resolution opposing the legislation.

But the most vehement opposition to SB 202 has come from Indiana AAUP chapters. The Indiana University Bloomington and Purdue West Lafayette AAUP chapters collaborated on a statement condemning SB 202 well before the House Education Committee vote. The Joint Statement reads in part:

These measures would severely constrain academic freedom . . .  The security imparted by tenure is the fundamental protection of academic freedom; its loss would make university positions in Indiana undesirable. Recruiting and retaining top faculty, who will always have alternatives, will no longer be possible.

One week before the House Education Committee votes, dozens of AAUP members from Indiana campuses converged on the state capitol to provide testimony in opposition to the legislation. This week, AAUP chapters are organizing call-in and write-in campaigns in an effort to reach Indiana’s elected officials in advance of the vote on Tuesday.

The chapters are also asking AAUP members to convince five friends to call or write to their representatives encouraging a “no” vote. Here’s how. Here’s a script you can use or text: “Hey – the House Ed committee passed SB 202 to the full House yesterday. The House might vote on Tuesday 2/27. We need to call legislators’ offices ASAP. Can you please call your representative as a constituent to oppose SB 202? Instructions, script and tracking are here.”

As in states like Florida and Texas where both DEI and tenure are under direct legislative attack, SB 202 is part of a “shock doctrine” unleashed on higher education, especially since October 7th. It forwards a longstanding right-wing dream of curricular control, classroom surveillance, attacks on “wokeness” and diversity, radical ramping up of labor contingency and precarity, and ultimately, the biggest prize of all — the elimination of academic tenure.

More than 150 University faculty and 60 higher ed union chapters will stand up against this tidal wave on Wednesday, April 17th. Designated a “Day of Action for Higher Education,” the day will feature coordinated protests at campuses across the country, and a national-level Teach In on how and why academic labor power and organizing are crucial means of resisting bills like SB 202 and broader attacks on higher ed.

The Day of Action is meant to be day one in a long-term campaign to build stronger academic unions with wider membership that can seize and execute democratic control of the workplace. Faculty and union leaders interested in taking part in the Day of Action can write to DayOfAction@proton.me. For media inquiries write to DayOfActionmedia@proton.me

Bill V. Mullen is professor emeritus of American studies at Purdue University and a member of Purdue-AAUP.  He is also a member of the organizing collective for the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI).