The following letter, reprinted with permission, was written by Marquette University professor Daniel McGuire to Michael Lovell, president of the university, concerning the case of professor John McAdams, who was suspended and barred from campus for criticizing a graduate student instructor on his personal blog. By Daniel Maguire At a faculty meeting on last Thursday,…
The debate over the firing of Steven Salaita is not over. The criticism of the University of Illinois continues, although many defenders of the chancellor and trustees wish people would stop talking about it. The Campus Faculty Association has started a petition calling for the U of I to follow the recommendations of the CAFT…
The University of Illinois Board of Trustees has issued its “final” ruling on the firing, summary dismissal and suspension of Dr. Steven Salaita for solidarity tweets with the civilian population during the latest Israel/Gaza conflict last summer. It explicitly rejected the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure report. While I found that report to be…
Richard Vedder argued at Forbes.com that in higher education, “the most invidious single violation of basic concepts of free expression of ideas is the attack on the Koch brothers, Charles and David.” This claim is absurd, since no one has sought to censor the Koch Brothers, and because their foundation has sought to limit academic…
The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today announced that it will never reconsider the dismissal of Steven Salaita, and it will not listen to any faculty committee about Salaita’s qualifications: “That decision is final.” According to the trustees, “The decision concerning Dr. Salaita was not reached hastily. Nor was it the result of external…
BY AAUP STAFF In the January–February 2015 Academe issue, Robert O’Neil explores the AAUP’s foray into the federal courts over the last century and the resulting impact the Association has had in shaping the law of higher education. In his article, “The AAUP in the Courts,” O’Neil demonstrates the major role the AAUP has played…
BY AAUP STAFF In her January–February 2015 Academe article, “Investigative Procedures in Academic Freedom and Tenure Cases,” Debra Nails describes the AAUP’s procedures for academic freedom and tenure investigations, in which dedicated member-volunteers work closely with staff to produce widely respected reports that treat serious violations of the AAUP’s principles and standards. Using her own…
BY AAUP STAFF In the January–February 2015 Academe issue, Ann H. Franke provides an overview of the AAUP’s century-long role in upholding and protecting the principles of academic freedom and tenure. In her article, “A Century of Change,” Franke offers her thoughts about “how things have been going and where they may be headed with that…
The Committee on Freedom of Expression at the University of Chicago has issued a report explaining why a university must have “lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation.” The Committee was apparently created partly in response to a petition by a group of University of Chicago students, asking that the Institute of Politics ban…
