Presenter stands in a classroom in front of a whiteboard with a screen showing presentation slides to the right

Fighting Weaponized AI in Higher Education

BY BRITT S. PARIS, LINDSAY WEINBERG, AND EMMA MAY Tomorrow, July 23, the Trump administration plans to release an “AI action plan” that reflects the White House’s priorities for expanding the artificial intelligence industry. It builds on one of the first directives from the second Trump administration, Executive Order (EO) 14179, “Removing Barriers to American…

Metal arch with the name Northwestern University sits atop white stone columns with a backdrop of trees with green and orange leaves.

Northwestern AAUP Resolution Approved By Faculty Assembly

BY JOHN K. WILSON The Northwestern AAUP chapter persuaded the faculty assembly to overwhelmingly vote in favor of its resolution at the April 21 meeting calling upon Northwestern’s leaders to fight for academic freedom, retract the administration’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism that punishes criticism of Israel, defend the…

police log from the incident

Communications About Threats On Campus

BY MATTHEW BOEDY On April 8, our school had a gun incident that involved a student making threats against the campus. But this story isn’t about that scary situation. It’s about my school administration’s epic communications failure about the incident.  Incidents like this show why principles of academic freedom and shared governance matter. It took…

Drawing from a George Washington University Day of Action flyer shows drawing of a shoe with the words "OFF OUR CAMPUS NOW" stomping on a rat with the word "ICE" on it.

Harvard’s Pushback Was Essential but Not Nearly Enough

BY DAVID PALUMBO-LIU After Columbia University’s craven and apparently futile acceptance of all the conditions Donald Trump set before it to even start a conversation about getting its federal funding back, Harvard’s recent refusal to let the federal government insinuate itself into the core functions of higher education was a welcomed moment we should all…

Rocky outcropping of reddish stones at Garden of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs, CA, offers a window-like view onto the verdant valley below with a cloudy sky and mountains in the background.

A Report from Colorado’s High Desert

BY RAPHAEL SASSOWER As the national academic landscape makes clear, academic freedom battles are often diverted to or fought in the budgetary arena: Money talks! To ensure that the mission of the university is not overlooked by our administrators, our AAUP chapter has demanded greater transparency in budgetary decision-making processes. Instead, we receive annual notices…

Cowardice or Collaboration?

BY HANK REICHMAN Given the daily fire hose of mostly unconstitutional (if not simply illegal) assaults by the Trump regime on the rights of immigrants, on “DEI,” on trans people, on the legal profession, on the judiciary, on social security and the Veterans’ Administration, and, of course, of most direct concern to readers of this…