BY Z. W. TAYLOR AND PATRICIA SOMERS Only a few decades after the 1789 signing of the US Constitution, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison sat on the board of visitors for the University of Virginia. Both Jefferson and Madison, originalists and contributors to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, supported the University of Virginia…
POSTED BY THE AAUP Below is the text of an email from AAUP president Rudy Fichtenbaum and AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress chair Paul Davis sent on February 27 following the February 26 oral arguments at the US Supreme Court in the case of Janus v. AFSCME. Dear Colleague, Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in…
BY NEAL H. HUTCHENS Today, Neal H. Hutchens, member of the AAUP Litigation Committee and professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi, published this column in Hechinger Report: Last week, the idea of a potential move by the U.S. Department of Justice received swift pushback from supporters of affirmative action in higher education,…
BY KELLY HAND With the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump just two days away, and with legislators in several states targeting higher education—through efforts to eliminate tenure (Iowa and Missouri) and specific courses or programs (Wisconsin and Arizona)—there is an urgent need for faculty to take action to protect academic freedom and quality higher education. The…