If you know the moral thing for an organization to do, feels important to state it, even if you recognize that the org likely won't do it. We should recognize the way that powerful orgs historically capitulated to censorship and suppression. Shame only works when we remember the transgressions.

"But if the member presidents choose the guise of institutional neutrality as a way to gain political cover, they may now be leading higher ed toward greater authoritarianism." Well the AAU is gonna love this (miniest of threads) www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

It would appear I am now a columnist at Inside Higher Ed. My first piece focuses on McCarthyism, censorship, and our current moment in higher education. This is an essay I started nearly 6 months ago so I'm glad to finally share it with y'all. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

Let's gooooooooo With alt

Yo. We're meeting today! If you are a member, check your email for a Zoom link.😘

The scale and speed of state censorship of campus really is amazing. More than half of America's college students attend institutions in states that have passed laws censoring higher education since 2021. From @penamerica.bsky.social pen.org/report/ameri...

Read AAUP President Todd Wolfson's full statement here👇

“The suspension of Mel Curth, a graduate instructor at the University of Oklahoma (OU), stemming from a grading dispute with a student, is an egregious violation of widely accepted principles of academic freedom and due process.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

Academic expertise has a meaningful impact on health impacts, free speech, and consumer protection. 👇

Academic expertise matters, especially in times like these. Seth Masket at DU is one of the best on American politics ❤️

In a week, Texas A&M goes from censoring Plato to canceling Dr. Leonard Bright's Ethics & Public Policy course on unfounded allegations it taught "race & gender ideology." “The message was clear: Be very afraid, no one can save you from being censored at TAMU.” — @drleonardbright.bsky.social

"Talking straight here, the big problem in this case is that the cabinet secretaries and, ostensibly, the president of the United States are not honoring the First Amendment,” Judge William G. Young said. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...

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The claim that UT Austin is depoliticizing education is absurd. Telling faculty what they can & cannot teach, disempowering a world-class faculty, attacking the humanities & skewing the core curriculum towards Western Civ: all forms of politicization. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/u...

This is one of the most important documents produced this year. At a time when many of our professional organizations are punting, @aaup.org has been leading on EdTech, AI, academic freedom & faculty governance. I'm humbled to be joining the team that authored this report.

Happy Founding Day to the @aflcio.org! For 70 years, we’ve fought for fairness, dignity, respect and a voice on the job for working people everywhere. Now 15 million strong, the power of our solidarity is stronger than ever. Here’s to the next chapter of progress for workers!

That’s right and we are gonna fight for free public higher ed, and end to student debt, an end to contingent and a new compact that prioritizes academic freedom, freedom of speech, shared governance and the right to assembly & protest on campus! JOIN US! @aaup.org news.bgov.com/bloomberg-go...

With rising attacks on university teachers, have you checked out the toolkit the Joint Academic Freedom Committee created for members facing challenges to academic freedom on campus, in the classroom, and beyond? Read and share with your colleagues: https://rutgersaaup.org/academic-freedom-toolkit/

“There’s no doubt in my mind that’s the intent…the worst thing is that politically mandated ideas will be taught instead of scientifically accepted concepts in our disciplines, or concepts that are recognized by the disciplinary experts.” – Andrew Martin, Texas Tech AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social

The Josef Korbel School at the University of Denver is named for a refugee from then-Czechoslovakia who first fled Hitler and then communism. His daughter Madeleine became a naturalized US citizen as a teenager in Denver, Colorado. She went on to be the first woman US Secretary of State.

Every effort that builds solidarity matters. Thrilled to see Colorado's work to develop a mutual aid defense compact get coverage in @chalkbeat.org www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202... 💪🥰

Non union chapters like ours can't yet offer it as a member benefit but the occupational liability insurance through AFT is only $6/month and this webinar has a lot of great info on what it covers.

We launched a PAC! “This PAC is an extension of our fight to ensure a future for American higher ed through bipartisan legislation that recognizes that college can be tuition-free, debt-free, welcoming to all, conducive to academic freedom & offer jobs with dignity.” - Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

Who is supporting these settlements? It’s generally not faculty or even long-time university administrators, it’s university boards and interim administrators who they’ve installed after admins with more of a fighting instinct have been forced out. There’s a playbook here.

Good news—Dr. Abedini has been released!!! Thanks to everyone who shared and mobilized 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

From the exchange in www.chronicle.com/article/acad... 2/2

This is actually amazing: Gutkin cues up another hit piece on the AAUP and the Chronicle slaps on a sensational headline, but the article actually consists of Scott, Jaleel, and Meranze making clear points and showing what a lightweight he is. 1/2 @aaup.org www.chronicle.com/article/acad...

Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...

Our legal victory in AAUP v. Trump ensures that the Trump administration cannot use civil rights laws to pull federal research funds from universities, which undermines our 1st and 10th amendment rights. AAUP General Counsel Veena Dubal explains why this is a major victory for higher ed workers.

“We were hopeful that the UC system would defend itself legally,” says Veena Dubal, general counsel to the AAUP. After UCLA published the administration’s 27-page list of demands in August, she says, the AAUP decided it couldn’t wait any longer: “We couldn’t not sue, they were so outrageous.”

Chapter meeting days/times for remainder of the 2025-2026. Membership will receive room locations and zoom links in advance 🤓 See you in these (academic) streets 💪

The Department of Education wants to limit what degrees count as “professional”, impacting people’s ability to access loans. Unsurprisingly, it’s women dominated professions being targeted. It’s also a disability rights issue as they’re targeting paramedical programs. NPs, PTs, SLPs & social work

ICYMI Dept of Education will no longer considers these professional degrees: Nursing Public health Social work Physician assistant Occupational therapy Physical therapy Audiology Speech-language pathology Social work Counseling & therapy Health Admin A smaller health workforce makes us all sicker

NEWS: Libraries WIN in federal court! A judge in RI issued a permanent injunction stopping the Administration from dismantling the Institute of Museum & Library Services and nullifying all actions taken to do so. Read the ruling: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... (More to come from ALA)

This has more of an impact on public libraries than academic but one of the amazing things about libraries is that because of services like interlibrary loans, consortial bargaining for large databases, etc. the success of all kinds of libraries is intertwined. 🥰

Morning! I did a lil analysis and turns out that, when ED employees are illegally fired and contracts are canceled, ED is unable to fulfill its congressional mandate to publish national statistics on the condition of education. Why does that matter? Well... www.brookings.edu/articles/the...

Still think this is one of the most impactful wins from the elections this year.

the Harvard Crimson called Epstein a “child sex offender” while the Chronicle of Higher Ed called him a “disgraced financier” and that pretty much sums up where we are with higher ed journalism

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I mean we had to sue them to *see the demand letter*. And when they lost they appealed to a higher court! www.latimes.com/california/s...

Sorry, I’m sure I sound abysmally negative in a celebratory moment, but it’s important to know that UC admin have fought us every step of the way as we attempted to stand up for our university. It’s become very clear to many of us that they view the values we cherish as impediments to their work.

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:

This injunction brought tears to my eyes. In a good way. It's also incredibly clear to me that a lot of the actions my university's administration are taking are intended to preemptively address the kinds of DOJ concerns and actions against UCLA that this injunction deems coercive and retaliatory.

"The Cavalier Daily corresponded with former Rector Robert Hardie, whose term ended June 30, regarding the two accounts. He confirmed that he agreed with Ryan’s account. 'I concur fully with President Ryan’s recollection of events,' Hardie said." Welp www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

As this is reported, you’ll hear “UCLA won,” and every time you hear that I want you to remember WHO TF UCLA IS

WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.

BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!! We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org

my takeaway from this letter is that glenn youngkin, rector sheridan and their flunkies on the board are deeply dishonest people who are engaged, with the trump administration, in a mob-style shakedown against the university of virginia