The AAUP Does Not Speak for All Professors
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) - one of the nation’s largest advocacy groups of college professors and instructors - has shamelessly become a deeply anti-Semitic organization. Not only did the AAUP reverse its long-standing policy against any form of academic boycotts in the wake of the October 7th terrorist attacks, but the AAUP is now whitewashing history and promoting the views of known anti-Semites. The AAUP has become a political agent and seemingly only speaks to progressive proclivities with the new president, Todd Wolfson, recently calling Senator JD Vance a “fascist.” While Wolfson is welcome to believe whatever he likes, such a public statement is simply not appropriate given his public role representing such an apolitical group.
Regrettably, these disgusting organizational and political changes are powerfully evident by how the AAUP has chosen to respond to now-former Columbia President Minouche Shafik's decision to resign. In response to her stepping down, the AAUP tweeted that “her failure to protect free speech & academic freedom by silencing peaceful protesters & having them hauled off to jail did a grave disservice to Columbia’s reputation & will be a permanent stain on her legacy.” Such a statement by the AAUP is an irresponsible misrepresentation of reality. Shafik allowed violence and intimidation of Jewish students and faculty to run rampant at Columbia; this was not about peaceful protests and First Amendment protections. Students stormed and occupied campus buildings and threatened employees. Learning was not happening, and classes went virtual. The safety of students and staff was a serious problem, and the riot police came to campus to manage a mob, but the AAUP did not present any of this reality and instead peddled a false narrative about expression and speech.
Since Shafik’s resignation, the AAUP has been retweeting known anti-Semites who supported violence and promoted the disruption of the learning environment. Katherine Franke, for example, was amplified and approved by the AAUP in her tweet, “President Minouche Shafik threw me under the bus when she testified before Congress, but I'm still an employee of Columbia University, she's not. Turns out that capitulating to the bullies didn't work out well for her. It never does.”
The actions taken by the AAUP represent a massive stain on higher education’s reputation and understandably feed into the declining confidence in higher education. The views espoused by the AAUP do not square with how Americans see the Israel-Hamas war or the related diversity, equity, and inclusion-fueled hatred toward particular groups in perceived positions of power. But America cannot turn its back on higher education; America’s higher education system has fueled so much innovation over the decades and remains a true engine of opportunity and mobility for countless students and families.
The AAUP and the DEI-industrial complex represent the loudest voices in the higher education space, dominating an area where many professors and most students are not as extreme and hold notably different values toward diversity and learning. These students and faculty are not happy with nor accepting of the behaviors the country has witnessed on campuses in recent months. Earlier research, published ironically in the AAUP journal, shows that most professors are not as politically active as it would appear. Most faculty members are not leading protests on their campuses and “a greater number of professors have turned away from protests entirely today than did in the violent late 1960s.” We are witnessing tyranny of the minority; the loudest voices speaking over the majority of professors who do not approve of the violence or views of the protesters.
Recent data from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) found that 68 percent of faculty believe that university administrators must be politically neutral in their statements when speaking in their official role. This position is in line with the University of Chicago’s Kalven Report which wisely supports institutional neutrality. Institutional neutrality empowers colleges and universities to pursue their traditional mission of teaching the next generation, coupled with cutting-edge research. Schools that do not take institutional positions foster freedom of expression among faculty and students, which is the lifeblood of a liberal education.
The FIRE data reveals that roughly 38 percent of self-identifying far-left faculty believe that school presidents should be institutionally neutral, and 55 percent of liberal faculty feel the same way. About 83 percent of moderate and 84 percent of conservative faculty believe in institutional neutrality. While a minuscule population, 88 percent of far-right faculty believe in institutional neutrality as well.
On a similar note, about 90 percent of far-left and 71 percent of liberal faculty justify submitting diversity statements before being considered for a job. Moderates, on the other hand, feel quite differently with only 44 percent believing that this is a justifiable requirement for a job at a university, and a majority (56 percent) maintain that such statements are ideological litmus tests that violate academic freedom. About 94 percent of conservative faculty members think diversity statements violate academic freedom.
The AAUP should not take ideological positions that it historically has not; it formerly promoted academic freedom, professional values and standards, and working to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good. The AAUP has shifted into an unrepresentative political agent that has failed professors and higher education and now favors ideology and progressive politics over the core principles of academic freedom. The AAUP does not speak or represent me or numerous other faculty members as well. The AAUP is a disgrace and has been exposed for its hate and anti-Semitism; I hope the rest of the nation sees the truth as well and knows that many in higher education reject the dangerous illiberal ideology that the AAUP is peddling.
