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Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom
With funding from the Mellon Foundation, the AAUP has established a Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom, with the aim of examining and confronting the recent surge of political and ideological attacks on American higher education. The center will bring together higher education and academic freedom experts over two years (2024–25) to develop a comprehensive understanding of the scope and nature of political interference in higher education and develop means of countering this assault.
The Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom will compile a database of the political organizations, think tanks, donors, and political operatives most responsible for the current wave of attacks and evaluate their success in shaping the trajectory of US higher education. Using this research, the AAUP intends to formulate a strategic campaign to fight back to protect academic freedom in America’s colleges and universities and ensure that the unrestricted search for knowledge in service of the common good remains the guiding force in American higher education.
Center Director: Isaac Kamola
