The Trump administration’s assault on higher education continues this week with an offer to give preferential treatment to colleges and universities in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological agenda. As the AAUP and the AFT said yesterday, this offer is entirely corrupt. It would reward campuses that toe the party line and punish those that cherish their independence. In so doing, it would commit the very viewpoint discrimination it claims to redress. And it’s only a first step—the administration this week also floated the idea of changing the way it awards research grants for all of higher education, replacing a system based on peer reviews and scientific merit with one that makes awards based on ideological fealty.

The AAUP and AFT urge all college and university governing boards, campus administrations, academic disciplinary organizations, and higher education trade groups to reject such collusion with the Trump administration and to stand firmly on the side of free expression and higher education as the anchor of opportunity for all. Read ourfull statement here. To learn more, watch a discussion I had with Chenjerai Kumanyika of New York University and Lorena Grundy, vice president of the University of Pennsylvania AAUP chapter: Breaking Down Trump’s New Higher Ed Loyalty Oath Compacts and Why We Must Resist.

We are in an existential fight for higher education and we are honored to have you with us in that fight. We are organizing, fighting, and winning on campuses and in the courts.

Next up—

October 18: plan to hit the streets with us and allies across the nation. It will be a day of peaceful and impactful protest as we come together to make clear: America has no kings! To find an event near you or get more info on the day of action, visit here. To register a chapter-led or local event, visit here.

November 7: plan an action on your campus in coordination with students and with support from AAUP organizers. More details coming soon!

See our full roster of upcoming events, actions, and trainings here.

In solidarity,

Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Rotua Lumbantobing, Vice President
Danielle Aubert, Secretary-Treasurer