Dear Colleague,

With rallies, teach-ins, and events on more than 170 campuses nationwide, we’re ready to “Free Higher Ed Now!” during tomorrow’s April 17 Day of Action for Higher Ed!

If you attend events in person tomorrow, please post on social media using the hashtag #DayofActionforHigherEd so we can help elevate your actions and your work. You can also tag CAHE, the AAUP or HELU on Bluesky. You can find resources for your action, including a sample media kit, on our website. We encourage you to upload photos, videos, and action reports from your events to this folder.

There’s still time to sign up for the April 17 online events:

• 10 a.m. ET: Displacement: From Palestine to Mexico. Six panelists will explore how we in higher ed understand the massive racist displacements of “surplus populations” caused by the wars, climate disasters and economic dislocations of a capitalist world-system in turmoil. Register here.
• 11 a.m. ET:. A political education and collective visioning session from the Debt Collective. Register here.
• 11 a.m. ET: The Antidote to Repression is Information. Join the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom for a session on mapping the landscape of resources and allies in the fight against the sweeping repression that began years ago and has metastasized. Register here.
• 12 p.m. ET: Why Sanctuary Campuses Now? In this workshop, core organizers of the Sanctuary Campus Network (SCN) A. Naomi Paik and Jenna Loyd will focus on the why and how of sanctuary campuses in this political moment. Register here.
• 1 p.m. ET: Who Rules the Academy (and How To Fight Back)? Higher education in the U.S. is subject to an unprecedented wave of attacks from external as well as internal sources. This panel will identify several of those sources and suggest ways to combat them. Register here.
• 1 p.m. ET: Doing University Debt Reveals Workshop. In this workshop, members of the Coalition Against Campus Debt and authors of the book Lend and Rule will share tools for revealing the debt on your campus, connecting institutional debt to student debt, and organizing against both. Register here.
• 2 p.m. ET: Universities As Political Battlegrounds: A Call for Courage. This webinar will bring together scholars, faculty, and movement leaders on the frontlines to analyze the growing repression in higher ed and discuss how we resist the assault on our campuses and in our communities. Register here.
• 2 p.m. ET: The Planned Scarcity of Public Student Housing at West Chester University, and the Transformative Organizing to Decommodify It. In this workshop, David Backer will narrate the story of researching university bonds amidst a student housing crisis. Register here.
• 3 p.m. ET: Immigrants Rights Defense Workshop. Join us for a one-hour workshop with attorneys and organizers on ICE policing tactics and strategies, and what to know about constitutional and other rights. Register here.
• 4 p.m. ET: Fighting Attacks on Higher Education in Red States. Karma R. Chavez, from the AAUP Chapter of UT Austin, will discuss local and statewide organizing in Texas from 2023-2025 as Republican legislators sought to completely dismantle public higher education as we know it. Register here.
• 5 p.m. ET: Day of Action Palestine Webinar. Join CAHE for a Day of Action Palestine Webinar, featuring scholars and activists Rabab Abdulhadi, Andrew Ross, and Tiffany Willoughby-Herard. Register here.
• 6p.m. ET: Militant Education in and Beyond the University. Join Common Notions authors for a brief and lively conversation as they discuss some key strategic questions confronting us today on the terrain of public higher education. Register here.
• 7 p.m. ET: National Teach In: Free Higher Ed Now! This Teach In will feature leading voices in the fightback for a Free Higher Ed. who will provide analysis and thoughts on key issues taken up during the Day of Action. Featuring Todd Wolfson, Levin Kim, Leila Kawar, Cathy Cohen, Lara Deeb, Sean Malloy, and Heather Ferguson. Register here.

You can find a full list of events on our website.

See you tomorrow!

In solidarity,

The Coalition for Action in Higher Education