Today marks the 100th anniversary of a famous editorial in the New York Times denouncing academic freedom, one that I quote in my article about the media and academic freedom in the new issue of Academe. Reacting to an AAUP report about the firing of Scott Nearing by the University of Pennsylvania, the New…
National Association of Scholars president Peter Wood has a column at Minding the Campus today arguing for an 7-point plan for what he calls “a real program for reform” of American higher education that would “take back the campus from those who are intent on making it a 24-7 taxpayer-subsidized indoctrination camp.” The notion that…
Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association which threatens to undermine the union movement in America by banning “fair share” or agency fees paid by workers for the services of a union in representing them. The AAUP, which is partly a union, has an obvious self-interest in fighting this…
Wheaton College officials are moving to fire tenured professor Larycia Hawkins because she made comments deemed too pro-Muslim by the administration. Hawkins’ trouble began when she announced that she would be wearing a hijab in solidarity with Muslims in the wake of Donald Trump’s call for banning Muslim immigrants. She declared, “I love my Muslim…
Yesterday, Joerg Tiede posted an excerpt from his new book about the AAUP’s 1915 Declaration of Principles. Tiede noted that although the Declaration was presented on December 31, 1915, the AAUP members did not vote to approve it until January 1, 1916. So on this, the centennial of the of the slightly misdated Declaration, it’s…
Chicago Tribune sportswriter Shannon Ryan has an important column today attacking the efforts of Missouri legislators to punish activist student athletes who boycott games (and fine coaches who support them): “This is another attempt to control athletes, silence them and pigeonhole them as solely money-makers for the university.” Even if I don’t think football players should…
The famous “dancing cop” of Providence, Rhode Island, Tony Lepore, has been fired for organizing a “Blue Lives Matter” protest critical of the Black Lives Matter. Steven Paro, Providence Police Commissioner, declared: “Mr. Lepore was not authorized to speak on behalf of the Providence Police Dept. and his actions were, in my judgment, a disservice…
Hans-Joerg Tiede, a professor of computer science at Illinois Wesleyan University who will be joining the AAUP staff next year, has written a new book about the early history of the AAUP, University Reform: The Founding of the American Association of University Professors (Johns Hopkins University Press). John K. Wilson interviewed Tiede via email about…
Here is the press release from Salaita’s lawyers: Settlement Reached in Case of Professor Fired for “Uncivil” Tweets November 12, 2015, Chicago – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and co-counsel Loevy & Loevy announced the settlement of Professor Steven Salaita’s case against the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) for firing him from…
Tim Wolfe, president of the University of Missouri, resigned this morning under intense pressure. I’m still trying to figure out what Wolfe did wrong. The racism on campus seems no different from a thousand other campuses, or the rest of our society. The response of Wolfe to that racism, with indifference, platitudes, and apologies, also…