"An important lesson we can draw from the new report is that our failure in higher education to defend, without giving any ground, pro-Palestinian speech has proven to be not just costly, but nothing less than an existential threat." Dan Segal on the AAUP-MESA Report. wp.me/p8xr4h-dit

WE WON!!! The US District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction in AAUP et al v. Trump et al (the wall to wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of Title VI to reshape the University of California system. Read the order here:

“The bottom line is that Cornell is trying to appease the bully. It has missed an historic opportunity to emerge on the world stage as a principled leader of academic freedom and the rule of law — a much sounder investment in its long-term prestige and institutional security.”

“Texas A&M University System regents voted Thursday to limit how instructors may discuss matters like gender identity and race ideology in classrooms, tightening the rules in a conservative state where debates over academic freedom have flared for months.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...

"Any proposed agreement should have been presented to the University Faculty & other governing bodies...The Cornell administration’s acceptance of this agreement without any faculty governance involvement is a betrayal of shared governance structures. " - AAUP Cornell @cornellaaup.bsky.social

Our Chapter's comments on the Cornell-Trump Deal are now available in the Daily Sun. We will continue fighting to protect academic freedom and shared governance as Cornell moves from negotiating to implementing this dangerous agreement.

"Trans lives are at stake in the battle for recognition, especially on college campuses. An authentic Cornell would protect them; this one has not. The community should anticipate and resist compliance with Bondi’s interpretation."

AAUP/MESA Report: 'Most government investigations of antisemitism are prompted by complaints received from outside campuses... Of the 102 complaints filed with the Office of Civil Rights that the report analyzes, all but one focus on speech critical of Israel.' www.aaup.org/news/new-rep...

The government forcing employees to mouth its partisan messages always seemed like more of a constitutional violation rather than (just) a Hatch Act violation

Cornell Chapter of the AAUP Statement on Cornell’s agreement with federal government aaup-cornell.org/2025/11/07/s...

I am very saddened to see Cornell comply with the Trump administration’s dictatorial demands. @cornellaaup.bsky.social provides a careful analysis of the potential dire consequences of this capitulation

Put differently, Cornell appears to have failed "The Lando Test." bsky.app/profile/bren...

The Cornell AAUP chapter has consistently stated that any deal with the Trump administration would be strategically unwise and a betrayal of Cornell’s principles. This remains the case. At best, we can say that this deal could have been worse. Read our full statement here:

Disappointed in Cornell's announcement today. Despite finding no violations of the law, Cornell will make a direct $30 million direct payment "as a condition for ending pending claims."

Cornell's Town Hall (read: Zoom webinar) on the deal is happening now! vod.video.cornell.edu/media/1_v5em...

My biggest question for @cornelluniversity.bsky.social admin right now is: how will this be interpreted? Will Cornell be changing its current trans-inclusive policy that "allows students, staff, faculty, and visitors to use the restroom or facility that corresponds to their gender identity"?

Don't ignore the fact that they announced this capitulation on 11/7, the National Day of Action for Higher Education. @aaup.org @cornellaaup.bsky.social #highered

But I am really struck by the rapidity and scale of the government's retreat from its much more extensive and destructive list of demands that it tried to impose on schools at the start of this mess. It would be far better if Cornell and other schools simply said "no." But still, a notable shift.

There are bad things here, including the transparently bad-faith mess about reporting students races + SAT/ACT scores to the government so they can falsely accuse Cornell in the future of illegal race-based affirmative action (a move that imperils perfectly legal class-based affirmative action).

But basically this agreement reads to me like one where the administration recognizes they are losing and are desperate to sign any deal to notch a win. Many of the most dangerous elements from the Columbia and Brown deals (and the proposed deals with Harvard and UCLA) are missing from this one.

On the other hand, Cornell agrees to what looks to me like $30 million in funding for futuristic agricultural stuff to benefit farmers (i.e. what Cornell already does), plus $30 million in actual $ paid to the feds. UVA paid $0, so in that respect this agreement exacted a larger ounce of flesh.

The incredible shrinking attack on U.S. universities continues. Cornell has signed an agreement—but unlike the UVA agreement, instead of pledging to follow the gov't's highly questionable July "guidance" on discrimination, Cornell simply agrees to hand it out to faculty as a "training resource"!

Higher ed workers say: Condemn the Compact! Here is CSU-AAUP, AFT Local 6745 member A. Fiona Pearson, professor of sociology at Central Connecticut State University, calling for us to unite in the face of these attacks on higher ed! @aftct.bsky.social

The problem wasn't that universities were indifferent to antisemitism, but that they allowed trustees, advocacy groups, demagogues, etc to pressure them into treating as "antisemitism" all kinds of political expression and advocacy that was entirely legitimate.

But of course there's no such evidence. The settlement only confirms what we already knew--that the Trump admin's Title VI allegations were baseless and made in bad faith.

If the Trump admin had evidence that Cornell systemically discriminated against Jewish students in violation of Title VI, it wouldn't let the university off the hook for a $30m investment in research about AI, robotics, and farming. /1

As a Cornell alum, this is beyond disappointing. Not just morally but strategically - have they not learned capitulation won't protect us?

A hearing is underway re: the American Association of University Professors et al v. Trump et al, Motion For Preliminary Injunction.

Trump's changes to PSLF would implement an ideological litmus test, draining talent from desperately needed jobs that help vulnerable communities & saddling workers with insurmountable debt. www.thecentersquare.com/national/art...

Shock doctrine tactics supported by schlock data make a mockery of shared governance. UNL AAUP are fighting hard. Time for faculty at every university going through "program review" to stand with their colleagues and students being targeted. @aaup #highered www.chronicle.com/article/a-un...

Join the Yale AAUP Today (Thursday) at 5 pm to discuss how federal funding cuts are threatening life-saving research at Yale and across the country-- DM for more info!

While actions will be taking place on campuses across the country this Friday, you can also participate in this teach-in for the National Day of Action for Higher Education on Zoom! 👏👇

Come out on 11/6 in SF to listen to the preliminary injunction hearing in AAUP v Trump! Show the federal courts that we stand up for academic freedom and will not capitulate! WE are the UC!

Professor Tom Alter will be speaking on this panel, Nov. 19th! 👏 Register now! 👇

“These centers bear some resemblance to the ‘para-educational’ institutes that began springing up… starting about 10 years ago…to provide extracurricular courses and events about conservative, classical or Christian ideas…Unlike those programs, these new centers are formally part of universities.” 👇

“The AAUP at UT-Austin executive committee sent a letter to President [Jim] Davis and Chairman Eltife in mid-October, offering several arguments against the compact and urging them to reject it,” Karma Chavez said. “They never responded.” www.austinchronicle.com/news/student...

We @knightcolumbia.org are doing two online events on chilling effects: First on 11/17 on the state of 1A doctrine and current cases involving chilling effects claims, and 2nd on 12/10 on using social science to study the chill caused by particular laws and policies. RSVP links below & in next post:

I'm glad to see our organizing with @AAUP.org is giving more colleges the courage to stand up to the Trump administration. Trump's offer to give preferential treatment to colleges in exchange for allegiance to his ideological agenda is entirely corrupt. www.wesa.fm/identity-com...

“All across NYU, students and colleagues have been undeterred in their organizing. NYU leadership should follow the example of their courage and tell the Trump administration and grifters like Rowan to keep their hands off higher education.” — @zachsamalin.bsky.social, NYU AAUP #DefendHigherEd

Top two stories in the Cornell Daily Sun today:

“Not 1 week after publicly committing to the ideals of higher education by rejecting the Compact, UVA’s Mahoney reversed course & signed an agreement betraying those same values. Indeed, he has set a precedent for future coercive deals between the federal government & state higher ed institutions.”

From the stalled grant reviews & award dispersal, to FAFSA & financial aid issues, & SNAP running dry, this article provides a good overview of how the shutdown is squeezing higher ed institutions’ finances that can impact everyone on campus.

“we will have strong grounds to sue any university potentially that signs on to this compact for undermining the First Amendment rights and constitutional rights of our members on that campus…Any university that accepts the compact must be made into a pariah in the academic community.” 👀 UT Austin

“Trump’s compact is the greatest single incursion into the freedom & autonomy of higher education to ever happen in this country.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President #DefendHigherEd

will taeheung kim, a korean american scientist and doctoral candidate with a green card, is still being detained by ICE. he's been in detention since July 21, first at SFO for over a week and then in various ICE facilities all over the country.

Am I reading this correctly: the firms that opposed Trump's intimidation tactics have suffered no consequences, whereas the firms that struck deals gave away $900 million while jeopardizing any work with clients who have interests at odds with the government? There's a lesson in there somewhere.

The Trump administration has demanded, among other things, that UCLA not enroll “foreign students likely to engage in anti-Western, anti-American, or antisemitic disruptions or harassment.”

“By narrowing who counts, what knowledge survives, & whose voices are heard, it strikes at the very conditions of civic life. To dismantle universities is not simply to shutter classrooms or cut research; it is to strip away our collective memory of the past & narrow the horizons of the future.”

Join this important webinar “Responding to Threats to Academic Freedom Around the World,” co-hosted by the International Studies Association’s Academic Freedom Committee & the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom. Oct 28, 10:30am ET on Zoom @isanet.bsky.social Register at link 👇