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 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 MYIA CLARISSE WILLIAMS AND VERNON C. LINDSAY One “big beautiful bill” has introduced ugly stress responses and expanded job duties among diverse higher education practitioners. Current provisions impose additional limits on Grad PLUS and Parent PLUS loans. Federal loan restrictions, the loss of DEI initiatives, and other meaningful programs that impact student retention also…
BY AUDREY BERLOWITZ The recent announcement of the founding of the Commission for Public Higher Education (CPHE) reveals another “axis of power” in the multiwebbed right-wing war on the US university. Though the new body entails only the seven southern public university systems of Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A & M,…
BY SILKE-MARIA WEINECK The following is reposted with permission from the Michigan Daily. A few months ago, University [of Michigan] Provost Laurie McCauley banned diversity statements in hiring. Diversity statements, the argument went, imposed inappropriate ideological litmus tests. And a few days ago, University President Santa Ono told the audience at an event hosted by the…
BY THE NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE OF THE AAUP On February 5, the University of North Carolina System issued a memorandum to UNC chancellors announcing that “all general education requirements and major-specific requirements mandating completion of course credits related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, or any other topic identified in Section VII of the [UNC System]…
BY DALE E. MILLER In a recent op-ed in The Hill titled “Our Universities Need Both Free Speech and Diversity Protections to Succeed,” Austin Sarat makes a vital point: “Free speech advocates should welcome . . . efforts to make colleges and universities more diverse and inclusive.” Yet he omits an equally vital point: The…
BY TABBYE CHAVOUS Ed. note: This week the New York Times Magazine published an article, “The University of Michigan Doubled Down on D.E.I. What Went Wrong?,” by investigative reporter Nicholas Confessore. To many in the U-M community, including some with serious criticisms of some DEI initiatives, the article was plagued by misinformation and bias. The…
On April 17, higher ed unions, AAUP chapters, and student organizations across the U.S. are coming together for a national day of action to fight back against the coordinated assault on teaching and learning, and to mobilize for a system of higher education that serves the public good. Our aim is not just to beat…
BY MARK S. JAMES Last August, my colleague wrote about how our university’s leadership has embraced a top-down corporate model as the way of running the university, and he proceeded to describe various instances when they have ignored shared governance and threatened academic freedom. This trend has continued unabated. The most recent example of this…