"Professor Watch List?" Notre Dame Profs Say Sign Us Up!

BY HANK REICHMAN The latest attempt to blacklist dissenting faculty members is the so-called “Professor Watchlist,” a project of a group called Turning Point USA founded by an ambitious twenty-something named Charlie Kirk.  The group’s website says it seeks to “to expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values and…

Theft and Defacing of Campus Newspapers is Censorship

POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN Last week the AAUP, the College Media Association, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the Student Press Law Center issued a report on “Threats to the Independence of Student Media,” which cited multiple cases in which college and university administrations exerted pressure in attempts to control, edit, or censor student journalistic…

Student Media Under Fire

BY HANK REICHMAN Today, the AAUP, the College Media Association (CMA), the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) released a report, Threats to the Independence of Student Media, shining a light on threats to student media and faculty and staff advisers.  The report reaffirms and expands upon basic principles…

Don't Mourn, Organize–Part II

BY AARON BARLOW The first ‘bigly’ Twitter and academic freedom case was that of Associate Professor Steven Salaita just two-and-a-half years ago (there were others earlier, including that in 2013 of Professor David Guth that resulted in a policy instituted by the Kansas Board of Regents that “faculty members and other employees can be fired…

AAUP Chapters Speak Out After Election

BY KELLY HAND Several AAUP chapters have issued statements dealing with the presidential election and its repercussions on higher ed. The University of Connecticut-AAUP issued a statement supporting a statement made last week by the AAUP and the AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress. The chapter affirms its “longstanding commitment to inclusiveness, democracy, and academic freedom and…

An Imprisoned Turkish Scholar Speaks

BY HANK REICHMAN The continuing assault on academic freedom in Turkey, which began last spring and intensified after the failed July coup attempt, continues.  (For previous coverage on this blog go here.)  According to Scholars at Risk, “On October 29, 2016, Turkish authorities issued a decree ordering the dismissal of 1,267 academic personnel, and the…