BY VERONICA VALENCIA GONZALEZ

For decades, universities have served as bastions of knowledge, advancing research and shaping the intellectual foundation of society. Yet, in their pursuit of cost-cutting measures, these same institutions have systematically devalued the very people responsible for that progress: the faculty. The suppression of wages for professors; the erosion of tenure; the rapid rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives; and the failure to protect faculty from political retaliation have not only undermined academic careers. They have sent a dangerous signal to the broader society: If universities don’t value scholarship and research, why should anyone else?

This devaluation isn’t new, but its consequences are now impossible to ignore. Across the country, academic institutions continue to underpay tenure-track faculty while administrative salaries soar. According to the AAUP, from fall 2022 to fall 2023, nominal average salaries for full-time faculty members increased by 3.8 percent; however, after adjusting for inflation, real average salaries remain below prepandemic levels. Meanwhile, median salaries for college and university presidents in 2023–24 ranged from approximately $259,000 at public associate’s institutions to over $912,000 at private-independent doctoral universities. Notably, some university presidents receive total compensation exceeding $1 million annually.

At the same time, universities have become increasingly reliant on adjunct labor. Part-time faculty members, who make up just under half (48.7 percent) of the academic workforce, earned an average of $3,903 per three-credit course section in 2022–23, often without health insurance or job security.  The message is clear: Scholars are expendable.

The Consequences of Devaluing Scholars and Science
When universities fail to support faculty through fair wages and job protections, public trust in expertise erodes. The effects are playing out in real time:

• Public trust in higher education has declined sharply, with confidence in colleges dropping from 57 percent in 2015 to 36 percent in 2023.
• State legislatures are slashing funding for public universities, forcing institutions to rely even more on contingent faculty labor.
• Tenure—the bedrock of academic freedom—is under direct assault. Over the past two years, lawmakers in at least ten states have introduced legislation to weaken or eliminate tenure in public colleges.

The rollback of tenure protections creates a chilling effect on scientific research, public policy analysis, and critical inquiry. When faculty self-censor because of political or economic pressures, it undermines the very mission of higher education.

But tenure isn’t the only faculty safeguard under attack. DEI rollbacks are exacerbating these challenges by further limiting protections for marginalized faculty and restricting academic inquiry. Universities have long used DEI initiatives to recruit, retain, and support faculty from historically underrepresented backgrounds. Without these programs, institutions risk becoming even less inclusive and more vulnerable to external political pressures.

The ongoing impact on federally funded research is particularly alarming. President Trump’s Executive Order 14151 eliminated DEI programs across federal agencies and directed institutions to remove DEI-related positions. However, broader disruptions extend beyond DEI rollbacks. For example, recent congressional actions and funding uncertainties have jeopardized National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants and other federal research initiatives, slowing progress in fields such as public health, climate science, and medical innovation. The temporary funding freeze imposed in January 2025 exacerbated these challenges, stalling grant reviews and application processes at agencies such as the NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF), causing widespread uncertainty in the research community. Although the White House later rescinded the funding freeze, confusion persists, and programs that may conflict with recent executive orders remain at risk of losing funding. These disruptions have jeopardized ongoing studies and further destabilized the scientific enterprise.

State-level policies are further reinforcing these changes. Florida and Texas have already banned DEI offices at public universities, and universities such as the University of Michigan have announced changes to diversity hiring and tenure policies in response to new legal restrictions. These restrictions further devalue faculty labor by reducing institutional commitments to equity, making it harder for universities to recruit diverse scholars, protect vulnerable faculty, and foster inclusive learning environments. Without tenure and DEI protections, many faculty—especially those engaged in social justice research or policy work—face greater risks of dismissal, reduced career mobility, and professional marginalization.

The Silencing of Faculty Protest and the Failure of University Protections
Even as universities promote free expression in theory, they have often failed to protect faculty who speak out on issues of social justice, institutional accountability, or labor conditions.

• Faculty members at the University of Florida have faced challenges, now the basis for a lawsuit, in discussing race-related topics following state-imposed restrictions on DEI initiatives.
• In Georgia, faculty members who protested against changes to tenure policies faced threats of dismissal and administrative retaliation.
• Across multiple institutions, scholars advocating for Palestinian human rights have been targeted with job suspensions, public harassment campaigns, and administrative pressure to retract statements.

Rather than defending faculty members, many universities are choosing silence—or worse, active complicity. If universities allow faculty to be punished, dismissed, or intimidated for engaging in protest, then academic freedom ceases to exist.

What Faculty and Institutions Must Do
Universities have long positioned themselves as champions of knowledge. It’s time for them to act like it. That means:

• Demanding fair wages. Despite a nominal increase of 3.8 percent from 2022 to 2023, real wages remain below prepandemic levels. Faculty must push for salary equity through collective bargaining, faculty senates, and direct action.
• Mobilizing to protect tenure. Faculty should resist legislative attacks on tenure through joint resolutions, faculty governance bodies, and legal advocacy. Institutions must actively reject policies that undermine academic freedom.
• Advocating for research protections.While universities may face external funding pressures, faculty must demand institutional support for continued investment in scientific and scholarly research.
• Advocating for DEI protections. While universities may face external legal restrictions, faculty must demand alternative mechanisms to support marginalized scholars and research initiatives.
• Defending faculty protest rights. Universities must adopt formal protections for faculty engaging in activism. Faculty senates and unions should establish legal funds to support colleagues facing retaliation.
• Building cross-institutional solidarity. Faculty at different institutions must collaborate across state lines to push back against systemic attacks on tenure, DEI, and labor conditions.

Now is the time for faculty to stand together. If universities continue to devalue the very people responsible for producing knowledge, we should not be surprised when the rest of society does the same—at our collective peril.

Veronica Valencia Gonzalez is research assistant professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and a fellow in the Bridge to Faculty program at the University of South Carolina. Their research examines gender-based violence, institutional responses to victimization, and systemic inequalities in policy and practice. They have collaborated with UN Women Mexico, Esperanza United, and FreeFrom on policy research.