• The AAUP is working with our chapters and allies to defend and advance higher education as the Trump administration and many state governments are accelerating attacks on academic freedom, shared governance, and higher education as a public good. Learn more and find resources here.

  • The winter issue of Academe, edited by Henry Reichman, examines the impact of war on higher education, especially in Palestine/Israel and Ukraine, as well as the "war on campus" that erupted during crackdowns on antiwar protests in the US.

  • With increasing attacks against our right to teach, research, and advocate for higher education as a public good, we know what we have to do in response: organize with even greater purpose.

    Visit our campaign site to learn more and sign up for updates

AAUP Updates

Like so many recent actions, this is the move of an authoritarian, and shows the Trump administration’s fundamental disregard for working people. It is also a blatantly retaliatory move, against federal workers and against unions, which have led the opposition to defend our communities and defeat the Project 2025 agenda.

Apparently, President Trump believes his job to be stripping rights from workers and students, persecuting immigrants, muzzling critics, and handing the governance of our country over to his billionaire cronies.

We know what our job is: to defend our campuses and communities and to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom, research that saves lives, and the institutions that provide crucial services that benefit every person residing in the US.

After months of delays, negotiations, and one-on-one engagement, faculty at Ohio University won a decisive victory on Monday as an overwhelming majority voted YES to being represented in collective bargaining by the United Academics of Ohio University, AAUP/AFT.

The AAUP and the AFT today sued the Trump administration on behalf of our members for unlawfully cutting off $400 million in federal funding for crucial public health research in an attempt to force Columbia University to surrender its academic independence. While the Trump administration has been slashing funding since its first days in office, this move represents a stunning new tactic: using cuts as a cudgel to coerce a private institution to adopt restrictive speech codes and allow government control over teaching and learning

The national AAUP; chapters at Harvard, Rutgers, and NYU; and the Middle East Studies Association today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in pro-Palestinian protests and other protected First Amendment activities.

Today, the AAUP and a coalition including educators, school districts, and unions filed a legal action against the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education and mass firings that will decimate the crucial services the department provides to every American. This lawsuit is the first filed since President Trump’s executive order attempting to shutter the department.

A joint statement from AAUP chapters condemning the impoundment of $400 million in research funds and ICE's targeting of Columbia students and alumni involved in pro-Palestine protests.

The AAUP condemns in the strongest possible terms any university that would sacrifice its own students to the demands of an authoritarian government. Columbia University’s decision to punish students with multiyear suspensions, degree revocations, and expulsions is an outrageous assault on freedom of speech, student and faculty safety, shared governance, and free inquiry and thought.

AAUP in the News

Fri, 03/14/2025  |  Ms. Magazine

"Look, this is going to be a long fight. We need everyone on board. This is why we’re developing a multi-pronged approach and building alliances with students, other unions and the public. This is the only way to stop the anti-worker and anti-union policies that are being promoted by Trump and his administration." - AAUP Vice-President Rotua Lumbantobing.

Sat, 03/08/2025  |  The Guardian

“Billions of dollars in research has been frozen, and that’s research on things that every American depends on,” AAUP President Todd Wolfson said. “Our members  having to lay people off, having to close their labs, having to ask for special circumstances to be able to keep rare supplies, like animals, alive. It’s been a complete, utter, destruction of the United States research infrastructure.”

Fri, 02/28/2025  |  The Defector

Labor for Higher Ed, a coalition of unions and advocacy groups, sponsored events that mobilized 10,000 demonstrators across 18 different U.S. cities. The message, AAUP president Todd Wolfson said, was clear: “Impacts [of cuts] for everyday Americans will be deadly. We will lose funding for crucial medical research that can save people’s lives. Treatments for diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and so much more are being gutted so that billionaires can get more tax breaks. They are intent on making America sicker so they can pad their pockets.”

Tue, 02/25/2025  |  Inside Higher Ed

Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, described the letter as “a deep political intrusion into the operations of higher education institutions” that “must be responded to with absolute conviction and force.” 

“I would stand with every inch of my soul against every one of these intrusions and bring all my members with me and put our bodies on the line to stop it,” he said.

 

Fri, 02/21/2025  |  Washington Post

“That is textbook viewpoint-based discrimination,” the judge wrote of the Trump administration's order, which the AAUP and partners sued to stop. “The government’s threat of enforcement is not just targeted towards enforcement of federal law. Rather, the provision expressly targets, and threatens, the expression of views supportive of equity, diversity and inclusion.”

Tue, 02/18/2025  |  Higher Ed Dive

“The version of university life depicted in the letter is a gross distortion intended to undermine the public’s faith and confidence in colleges and universities,” AAUP President Todd Wolfson said. “In fact, education is not toxic indoctrination that smuggles illicit topics into the classroom. It is a process of inviting students to reflect on what we think we know.”

Upcoming Events

April 1, 2025

Join us for a planning call for the April 8 Kill the Cuts day of action.

April 8, 2025

By cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care, the Trump administration is abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars. These cuts are dangerous to our health, and dangerous to our economy. On Tuesday, April 8, workers across the country are standing up and demanding NO cuts to education and life-saving research.

April 17, 2025

Join AAUP chapters and allied organizations for a one-day action on and around our campuses to renew this vision of higher education as an autonomous public good, and university workers as its most important resource.

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    For its 2025 volume, the AAUP’s Journal of Academic Freedom invites submissions of scholarly articles that address the impact of large private donations on academic freedom and the educational mission of colleges and universities. The submission deadline, extended by two weeks, was Wednesday, March 19.

    See open positions and learn how to apply.