collage of images of AAUP documents related to race in higher education along with photos of Angela Davis, campus activists during the civil rights era, and early AAUP leaders, all white men, in suits

From the Editor: Reconsidering the AAUP’s History

BY MICHAEL FERGUSON Following is the editor’s introduction to the spring 2024 issue of Academe, “Race and the AAUP,” out this week. The full table of contents for the issue can be found here. This issue of Academe takes an overdue step toward reconsidering the role of race in the AAUP’s history. In a time of backlash against racial…

Police officers in black uniforms engage with student protesters, pulling the arm of a student who has linked arms with a chain of students, some wearing masks.

University Leaders Are Teaching Us How Holocausts Happen

BY MICHAEL SCHWALBE We are now seeing how holocausts happen. We are seeing how people who dare to speak out against massive state violence—in this case, college students protesting Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza—are being beaten and arrested at the behest of university leaders, who in turn are acting as agents of the Israel-allied US…

piece of paper with the word SUSPENDED stamped in red; a rubber stamp with a red handle rests on the paper

Why Columbia’s Interim Suspensions Are Wrong

BY JOHN K. WILSON Yesterday, Columbia threatened student protesters, “if you do not leave by 2 p.m., you will be suspended pending further investigation.” This interim suspension included banishment from campus, a prohibition on attending classes, and eviction from campus housing. All organizations committed to campus free expression should call for a total ban on…

Image of four fists of different skin tones raised in solidarity against a yellow background

AAUP-Penn to Interim President: “Do Not Escalate”

POSTED BY JENNIFER RUTH This morning, on April 27th, the AAUP-Penn Executive Committee sent the following urgent message to Interim President Jameson, Provost Jackson, and Senior Executive Vice President Carnaroli in response to last night’s message threatening to shut down the student antiwar protest on College Green: April 27, 2024 Dear President Jameson, Provost Jackson,…

Palestinian flags on a green lawn in front of buildings and trees at Marquette University

Response to the Armed Vandals Who Assaulted Students for Justice in Palestine Memorial at Marquette University

BY RACHEL IDA BUFF On April 7, Marquette University Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), with full knowledge and consent by the university administration, planted 41,000 flags to symbolize the death toll from the ongoing genocide in Gaza. That night, three Zionist educators not affiliated with the university desecrated the memorial. One of them carried…

Two Important Statements on Shafik’s Testimony before Congress

POSTED BY JENNIFER RUTH AAUP President Irene Mulvey and the AAUP chapters of Barnard and Columbia released statements regarding Minouche Shafik’s testimony before the House Education and Workforce Committee. Below is Mulvey’s statement, followed by the chapters’ statement. Wednesday, before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, President Shafik threw academic freedom and Columbia…

On Events at Columbia University

BY HANK REICHMAN As a Columbia alum (College ’69), participant in that university’s 1968 student rebellion, advocate for academic freedom and free expression rights, and as a Jew, I have followed developments at Columbia over the past few days with great interest.  On Wednesday came the appearance by the co-chairs of the university’s Board of…