BY MATTHEW BOEDY
Faculty in the South Describe a Climate of Fear on Campus, Grants Cancelled, and Students Impacted, Survey Finds
A major new survey of higher education faculty across the South has revealed the significant impact of federal and state political attacks on faculty work and recruitment. The survey, conducted by multiple state conferences of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), received responses from nearly 4,000 individuals [3,926] in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. The findings highlight a widespread climate of fear and anxiety and by effect, an ongoing desire by some faculty to apply for other jobs outside their current state, exacerbating “brain drain” across the region.
An open-ended question about the direct impact on faculty work from attacks on higher education reaped more than 2,700 responses. One of the most repeated themes in the responses was about the climate of fear and anxiety on campus. One respondent wrote: “Attacks have instilled fear in our graduate students and led some to reconsider seeking an academic position in the U.S.” Another wrote about “a general fear of my entire career being dissolved” due to a “fear of talking openly about academic findings that may contradict political ideology.” Another wrote they were fearful of “ambush videos which take course and class discussions out of context to attack faculty.” This fear has “changed my approach to teaching and its content in ways that are detrimental to understanding both sides of any issue.”
Overall findings from the survey indicate about 55 percent [55.4] of respondents would not recommend their state as a desirable place to work for colleagues, while 25 percent are planning to apply in another state in the coming year. That same amount has applied for academic jobs in other states since 2023. The top seven states for those applications are: California, New York, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Every state in the nation was listed at least six times. More than 15 percent [17.6 percent] said they do not plan to stay in academia long term.
The survey also sheds light on the primary factors driving faculty members to seek employment elsewhere. Respondents could list multiple reasons. Last year’s top reason, salary, was replaced this year by the “broad political climate” (56.6 percent of respondents) of a faculty member’s current state. Salary was No. 2 at 50.7 percent and academic freedom garnered 45.5 percent. Issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and shared governance were mentioned by more than 30 percent. LGBTQ+ issues, reproduction/abortion access, and tenure issues were also factors for more than 20 percent of respondents. Cost of living was 14.8 percent.
Two new questions were added this year. One asked respondents if they personally in the last year had any syllabi or curriculum choices questioned by administrators. More than 15 percent (17.1) said yes. The second question asked respondents if they personally had any federal contracts ended by the Trump administration. More than 10 percent (10.6) said yes. Respondents to the open-ended question about attacks on higher education wrote about having grants cancelled, others revised grant applications to avoid certain words, and a fear for the future of government-sponsored research. One respondent wrote: “As an early career faculty member, I am very concerned about the availability of grant funding to support the research that I am passionate about.”
Furthermore, the survey revealed the detrimental effects of attacks on hiring within higher education. Almost 40 percent said they knew of candidate hesitancy through the interview process (39.9) and generally applications were down (39.8 percent). More than a third of respondents noted the quality of applications were down (35.2 percent) and job offer refusals by candidates (34.8 percent). About 20 percent (21.4) said they knew of no impact.
The survey, conducted by state AAUP conferences in the region from August 4 to August 29, utilized social media and email for distribution. About 17 percent of respondents identified as non-white and 51 percent as female. The respondents encompassed a broad range of experience, status, and salary. More than 60 percent of respondents said they hold tenured positions.
These findings echo a similar survey of about 3,000 faculty conducted in 2024 in these same 12 states. Final respondent count per state:
Texas: 1162
Georgia: 812
North Carolina: 387
South Carolina: 331
Alabama: 200
Florida: 198
Virginia: 173
Louisiana: 164
Mississippi: 146
Tennessee: 136
Kentucky: 132
Arkansas: 56
Media coverage so far:
‘We’re terrified’: University faculty in the South describe culture of fear on campus in new survey
Professors want to leave Texas because of tense political climate, survey says
Matthew Boedy is president of the Georgia AAUP. He can be reached on X/Twitter and Bluesky.
Thank you to the AAUP and its fearless state conferences for fielding this survey. I hope all faculty at Southern universities and colleges will join the AAUP or start/join AAUP campus chapters–AND join Stand Together for Higher Ed, a nonprofit building coalitions across states and higher education institutions. It’s free. And we’re working with the AAUP. We’re building collective power among faculty and staff across the country. http://www.standtogetherhighered.org
Einstein warned that we can’t solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. I quit academe four decades ago because I abhorred the opportunistic drift away from genuine critical thinking combined with the general embrace of “pragmatism”. Both were driven by motives of a practical or political motives rather than by strictly ethical ones. Well, the chickens have come home to roost, and they’re squawking in panic. The sad truth is that academe allowed what’s happening by lowering its principles to such an extent that it’d be a walkover for “reform” by anyone with Trump’s view of the world. There’s be no 7th Cavalry rescue. There’ll be no going back. All that can be done is to accept that you’ve failed and to work towards a NEW paradigm – and it’s not happening. There’s only squawking. And the same squawking is going on at the political level in its pathetic “countering” of Trumpism. This is a big part of the dreadful legacy the Baby Boomers have left to world culture. Their idea of freedom was license to burn the house down. The leadership needed was simply not there. And it still isn’t.