BY ALAN PARKES History is always political. Last month, the American Historical Association’s (AHA) leadership chose to override its own members for a second year, again vetoing a resolution on scholasticide in Gaza along with a resolution opposing attacks on academic freedom, especially those drawing attention to Israel’s US–sponsored genocide. As the AHA fails its…
BY NIMISHA BARTON Following the infamous “Dear Colleague” letter sent out by the Department of Education in February 2025, colleges and universities rushed to shutter diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices in the hopes of avoiding the fate of so many other institutions—namely, incurring the wrath of the Trump administration that views such programs as…
BY MICHAEL SCHWALBE In a society free from superstition and bigotry, a society in which anti-intellectual reactionaries held no sway, Samantha Fulknecky’s complaint would have gotten no traction. Fulnecky, as most followers of higher education news are aware, is the University of Oklahoma undergraduate who submitted a religious screed to fulfill a reaction paper assignment…
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…
BY ELLIOT BENJAMIN I joined the AAUP this fall and recently attended both a general member meeting and a meeting for the AAUP’s at-large chapter. I voiced my interests and concerns about attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and academic freedom at the at-large meeting, where it was recommended that I share on…
BY LOUISE PAY Understanding the strategy behind ideological attacks on university employees is the only way to counter them effectively. It’s easy to dismiss cases like the recent incident at the University of Oklahoma (OU), where a graduate instructor’s grading decision was amplified into a public controversy on X (formerly Twitter) by the OU chapter…
BY DON ERON The AAUP’s recent statement On Title VI, Discrimination, and Academic Freedom is a potentially useful report that self-destructs with the use of a single quote, on which the report—and the organization as a whole—wages its credibility. As a result, nobody who doesn’t already agree with everything the report says is likely to take it, or…
BY DAVID PICKUS AND ROBERT NIEBUHR Artificial Intelligence (AI) is just a tool, they say. For universities, the idea is that this tool enhances learning. Furthermore, the promise continues that AI is a great equalizer that will increase access to knowledge. Our objection to AI in universities does not center on the march of technology,…
BY JACKIE STEVENS Northwestern University’s Interim President Henry Bienen announced on Friday the university had violated commitments to its faculty and students in order to appease an autocrat. Bienen claimed the agreement was signed to restore federal funding but has withheld the appendices indicating the affected grants and contracts. The scope of restored funding and…