Responding to Attacks on Academic Freedom: A General Field Guide

Increasingly, academic freedom is being threatened from a whole host of directions. Politicians in many states have passed laws banning the teaching of certain “concepts” and shuttering DEI offices. Partisan interests, media outlets, congressional committees, and online trolls have targeted faculty for their teaching, research, and public speech. Some faculty face relentless harassment. These attacks can result in faculty being sanctioned, even fired. This guide offers a collection of resources designed to help faculty, and their supporters, respond to these challenges.

Should you have concerns that your academic freedom is being violated, here are some organizational and individual responses you can take.

Organizational Responses

AAUP Advocacy and Collective Bargaining Chapters

Whether you are a graduate student or a tenured, tenure-track, or contingent faculty member, your AAUP advocacy or collective bargaining chapter can help defend your academic freedom. AAUP advocacy chapters are campus organizations that work to defend academic freedom and support academic workers, even if the institution does not have a recognized union.  

You can find your campus AAUP chapter here or by emailing [email protected]. If you do not have a campus chapter, here is a step-by-step guide for creating one.  

AAUP's Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance (DAFTG)

If you are facing a threat to academic freedom on your campus, you can also reach out to the staff at the AAUP’s Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance ([email protected]). DAFTG responds to queries from AAUP members and non-members, and provides advice regarding Association-supported principles and standards.

The DAFTG staff regularly write to university administrators to inform them of Association-supported standards with regard to specific faculty cases. If a case is especially egregious, DAFTG may begin the process of initiating a formal investigation by an ad hoc committee of AAUP members. In determining which cases to recommend for investigation, the DAFTG staff consider the potential educational value of the anticipated report, the degree to which the issues of concern bear upon the AAUP’s core principles and recommended standards, and the seriousness of the departures from those principles and standards.

Responses Through Shared Governance

Using AAUP Statements

The AAUP has also produced a number of widely regarded policy statements on academic freedom, shared governance, institutional autonomy, and the freedom to protest. Sections of the 1940 Statement and the Statement on Government of Colleges and Universities can be found incorporated into faculty manuals, and already serve as the basis of faculty governance at many institutions. 

For faculty committees, AAUP advocacy chapters, and collective bargaining units these statements can be helpful tools in framing campus issues, advocacy, and for writing campus statements. Advocacy chapters at the University of Pennsylvania and at Columbia University have produced a number of powerful statements drawing upon AAUP principles.    

A list of some of the most relevant policy statements regarding the defense of academic freedom can be found here.

Develop Campus Policies for Protecting Faculty from Harassment

Many colleges and universities do not have a strong track record vigorously defending faculty and graduate students from targeted harassment. Faculty First Responders, PEN America, the AAUP, and the Research Support Consortium (RSC) provide valuable resources about how faculty and institutions can respond to targeted harassment. In particular, the RSC has created a “Toolkit for Institutions” which includes detailed resources for setting up a proactive institutional response to targeted harassment, including developing procedures, policies, and establishing a research support teams and a communications strategy.  

AAUP advocacy chapters and unions can encourage institutions to adopt such policies.

Individual Responses and Precautions

Legal Protection

If you are an AAUP or AFT member you have access to AFT legal benefits, which include a free 30-minute consultation (and 25% off legal fees). For a fee, you can also enroll in a MetLife Legal Plan, which offers additional legal protection.

Digital Security

Data and Society provides a Best Practices for Conducting Risky Research and Protecting Yourself from Online Harassment. The Electronic Frontier Foundation offers helpful digital self-defense resources. And companies such as Norton LifeLock and DeleteME can locate and remove your personal information from the internet for a fee.

PEN America has produced a series of short tutorial videos about how to create preemptive defenses against hacking, doxing, and social media harassment.

Mental Health

AAUP and AFT members have access to AFT benefits, including Talkspace therapy and/or trauma counseling member benefits.