MESA Board Statement on the Repression of Academic Freedom in US

Today, March 13, 2025, the Middle East Studies Association released the following important statement. To go directly to the statement on the site, click here. The second Trump administration has ushered in an existential threat to academic freedom and higher education in the United States. The current campaign targeting universities is an extension of earlier…

Palestine Caucus Series and Update on CAHE’s Day of Action

Thursday 13 March, 1pm EST on Zoom BDS, International Law, and the Struggle for Rights and Representation on US Campuses Workshop Introduction and moderator: Karim Mattar (CAHE) Speakers: Omar Barghouti (Palestinian BDS National Committee) and Radhika Sainath (Palestine Legal) Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/pyyCqnJvT1ain-vG4sJ5mg Please join CAHE on Thursday 13 March, 1pm EST for our BDS, International Law, and the…

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Statement in Support of Palestine Studies and Academic Freedom at Hunter College

SUBMITTED BY ANTHONY ALESSANDRINI Issued jointly by the Professional Staff Congress Academic Freedom Committee and the Hunter College Committee on Academic Freedom; cosigned by the Queensborough Community College Academic Freedom Committee. We write as CUNY scholars concerned with academic freedom to express our outrage at Governor Kathy Hochul’s interference in an academic job search at…

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Prioritizing Principles over Politics

BY JOHN TOMASI I like lamb vindaloo super hot and spicy. Or rather, as my family delights in pointing out, I like the idea of vindaloo prepared that way. In truth, when faced with a wildly overspiced vindaloo platter, I gasp and sputter, munch down every naan in reach, quaff all the water on the…

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The Transformation of George Mason University’s Board: Part II

BY BETHANY LETIECQ, TIM GIBSON, AND JAMES FINKELSTEIN This blog post is the second in a series on the transformation of George Mason University’s board. Read part I here. From Conservative Oversight to Extreme Partisan Activism In recent years, George Mason University’s Board of Visitors (BOV) has dramatically transformed from conservative oversight to extreme partisan…

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The Transformation of George Mason University’s Board: Part I

BY JAMES FINKELSTEIN, BETHANY LETIECQ, AND TIM GIBSON From Conservative Oversight to Extreme Partisan Activism Republican governors in Virginia have long appointed conservatives to university governing boards, but nowhere has this been more pronounced than at George Mason University. This trend began in July 1996, when Governor George Allen appointed Edwin Feulner, co-founder and president…

Remembering Michael Burawoy, 1947-2025

BY JAMES VERNON Ed. note: On Monday, February 3, Michael Burawoy, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley and lifelong activist, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing the street near his Oakland home.  We in the AAUP join with our colleagues at Berkeley and world-wide in mourning his untimely…

Support LA Educators Displaced by Fires

BY HANK REICHMAN The American Federation of Teachers and its state affiliate, the California Federation of Teachers, have established a disaster relief fund to assist “displaced members and their families—our educators and school staff, pre-K through college, in Southern California.”  In an email to members, AFT President Randi Weingarten and CFT President Jeff Freitas wrote,…