BY THE DICKINSON COLLEGE AAUP CHAPTER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
On May 8, 2025, Dickinson College’s faculty overwhelmingly approved a resolution to propose and help establish a mutual academic defense compact (MADC) with institutions in the Annapolis Group of Liberal Arts Colleges. The purpose of the MADC is to defend academic freedom and institutional autonomy in response to government overreach by building strategic alliances and solidarity among liberal arts institutions across the country. Under the compact, all participating colleges would collaborate to protect free inquiry and expression on campuses and coordinate a unified and robust response to attempts to undermine academic freedom. While faculty at many public universities have proposed similar resolutions, Dickinson College is one of the first small liberal arts colleges to propose this type of initiative.
Attacks on academic freedom are not new. However, in this current momLent, the federal government is using federal funding as a means to enforce compliance, first targeting individual institutions and now groups of institutions. In October, the Trump administration proposed its own academic compact that would require institutions to adhere to its political ideology in order to receive priority in federal funding, a move that would severely violate academic freedom and institutional autonomy. While leadership at many institutions have openly rejected the Trump administration compact and what it represents, others have succumbed to government pressure to varying degrees. You may have noticed seemingly small and subtle modifications to policies on your own campus, but these changes have consequences. Rather than lying low and hoping to fly under the radar, we are proposing a strategy of strength in numbers. It is all the more urgent now to work in solidarity to safeguard higher education in this country.
Members of Dickinson’s AAUP chapter are now focused on encouraging faculty at other Annapolis Group institutions to bring similar MADC resolutions to a vote on their campuses. To this end, Dickinson’s AAUP chapter applied for and received a Strategic Initiatives Fund Grant from the Pennsylvania AAUP Conference to organize a Solidarity Summit for representatives from liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. On November 8, 2025, members from AAUP chapters at six colleges participated in the workshop and brainstorming sessions: Allegheny College, Bucknell University, Dickinson College, Haverford College, Franklin & Marshall College, and Lafayette College.
The Solidarity Summit was an important opportunity to build new connections and support systems for colleagues working at smaller liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania; this includes plans to bring more MADC resolutions to a vote as soon as possible. Representatives from the above institutions are now in the process of establishing their own MADC resolutions while continuing outreach to faculty at other schools. If you are interested in collaborating and proposing a similar resolution at your liberal arts college, please contact us at dickinsonaaup@proton.me
