Against Anticipatory Obedience

Dear Scott, As we wrote last week, we are committed to fighting to protect and advance higher education in these difficult times—and we need you in that fight. One thing we can all do is work to prevent “anticipatory obedience” to political interference in higher education, on our campuses and in our states. A new joint statement out today from the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure and Committee on College and University Governance discusses how the Trump administration and many state governments appear poised to accelerate attacks on academic freedom, shared governance, and higher education as a public good. They will likely attack the curricular authority of the faculty, including the ability to engage in teaching and research on certain topics. As the statement notes, “It is the higher education community’s responsibility not to surrender with such attacks—and not to surrender in anticipation of them.” Instead, we need to vigorously oppose them. While administrators and faculty members may have to comply with legislation and court orders, even where these run counter to our values and to professional and constitutional principles, we are free to register our disagreement. Under no circumstances should an institution go further than the law demands. But too often, administrators do. One case in point is the recent review of all course content for “antisemitism or anti-Israel bias” in the Florida state university system, initiated by its chancellor at the urging of a member of the state house of representatives. Courses flagged for further scrutiny included “Percussion Ensemble,” “Global Hip Hop,” “General Parasitology,” and “Painting Workshop.” Similarly, the University of North Texas administration recently censored the content of more than two hundred academic courses, including mandating the removal of words such as “race,” “gender,” “class,” and “equity” from undergraduate and graduate course titles and descriptions. This was allegedly done in response to state legislation banning certain diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and practices, even though the legislation specifically exempted academic course content. Read the full statement here. Here’s what you can do, working with your AAUP chapter or state conferences, union, or faculty senate: Review handbooks and contracts to strengthen and reinforce faculty rights in the areas of curricular reform and course approval, academic program discontinuance, and faculty appointments, reappointments, promotions, and dismissals. Sign up for “Codifying the Redbook,” a virtual workshop about ways to gain or strengthen policies in your union contract or faculty handbook to protect academic freedom, faculty oversight of curriculum, protest and dissent, due process, and more. Review and reform policies to strengthen faculty oversight in areas currently being used to exercise excessive and undue discipline against faculty, staff, and students. These include Title IX and Title VI policies and procedures, acceptable-use policies regarding institutional resources, events and outside speakers policies, and campus free speech and protest policies, among others. Organize locally, regionally, and nationally. The erosion of faculty rights goes hand in hand with attacks on tenure, faculty unions, and academic governance. Sign up for our Skills to Win training and kick your chapter into high gear. Strengthen local capacity to protect tenure and academic freedom by establishing or staffing a Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure in every chapter and state conference. Here’s how. Strengthen local capacity to protect faculty governance by promoting AAUP resources on governance—including the Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities—within our chapters, to faculty senates, and across our institutions. Ensure the inclusion of protections for faculty members’ intramural speech concerning the governance of their institutions. Find resources here.