Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Virtual Events
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    Hands-On Career Preparation
    An AI-Driven Work Force
    Alternative Pathways
Sign In
Faculty

AAUP Members Are Warned of Growing Threats to Academic Freedom

By Peter Schmidt June 13, 2014
Washington

The last few academic years have brought a wave of new threats to academic freedom, arising both from controversies fanned by social media and from pressure on state lawmakers to restrict speech at public colleges, members of the American Association of University Professors were told here on Thursday at the group’s annual conference.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

The last few academic years have brought a wave of new threats to academic freedom, arising both from controversies fanned by social media and from pressure on state lawmakers to restrict speech at public colleges, members of the American Association of University Professors were told here on Thursday at the group’s annual conference.

Both Henry F. Reichman, who is chairman of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom, and top officials of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a free-speech advocacy group known as FIRE, described a host of recent efforts to punish colleges’ faculty members for controversial statements or to limit what faculty members can say.

Among perceived attacks on academic freedom they cited were the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse administration’s denunciation of a faculty member’s email critical of Republicans, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s controversial demand last fall that Gene Nichol, director of its poverty-law center, alert his bosses beforehand and include language explicitly distancing himself from his institution in writing columns for a local newspaper.

When faced with outside pressure to discipline faculty members for statements they have made, college administrators too often take “the position of shoot first, ask questions later,” complained Peter Bonilla, associate director of a FIRE program that defends individual rights.

In delivering the conference’s opening plenary address, Mr. Reichman argued that college administrations should do more to defend the speech rights of their faculty members, and should adopt and have “the spine to enforce” policies intended to prevent students from using social media to disseminate instructors’ remarks to unintended audiences.

Citing a recent Chronicle survey that found four-year colleges have been slow to develop policies governing online speech, Mr. Reichman challenged the idea that faculty members are most free where no such policies are on the books. “We need policies,” Mr. Reichman said, “but what we need are good policies—policies that guarantee academic freedom.”

Unintended Audiences

Both Mr. Reichman and the representatives of FIRE characterized electronic communication as having greatly changed the landscape for academic freedom.

Mr. Bonilla argued that, when it comes to protecting academic freedom, “there is probably no more dangerous frontier right now than online speech.”

Mr. Reichman said social media, which faculty members are using both for personal reasons and in connection with research and teaching, have blurred the line separating private and public avenues of communication. Twitter and Facebook posts, for example, both can circulate well beyond the author’s list of Twitter followers or Facebook friends.

He cited recent incidents in which students have distributed surreptitiously recorded videotapes—some of them heavily edited—of instructors making controversial statements. “Is this a violation of academic freedom? Yes,” he said. “How can we stop it? I don’t know.”

Faculty members, Mr. Reichman said, must be aware of how far their speech can be relayed. “Electronic communications can, like it or not, make classrooms a far more public space than they were in the past,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Among the more vexing questions posed by social media is how to ensure faculty members are not perceived as speaking for their institutions. While it is fairly easy to include in printed academic papers language making it clear that the authors speak only for themselves, routinely inserting such language in tweets or Facebook posts can be seen as impractical. Many college, nonetheless, require such disclaimers, regardless of the medium.

“It should be assumed,” Mr. Reichman said, “that you are speaking for yourself.”

Statewide Disputes

Both Mr. Bonilla and Mr. Reichman took a dim view of a social-media policy adopted by the Kansas Board of Regents last month, after considerable debate. After an initial version of the policy was widely denounced by faculty leaders and free-speech groups as far too draconian, the board revised it to drop some speech restrictions and to affirm the value of academic freedom. The changes, the two speakers said, did not fix the initial policy so much as leave it internally contradictory.

Mr. Bonilla and William Creeley, FIRE’s director of legal and public advocacy, also expressed alarm over recent attempts by state lawmakers to restrict the activities of faculty members. Some South Carolina lawmakers, for example, have sought to financially punish the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina-Upstate for assigning to incoming freshmen books with gay characters and themes. Lawmakers in both Maryland and New York have considered proposals to withhold funds from colleges that financially support organizations calling for a boycott of Israel.

ADVERTISEMENT

“This has, unfortunately, been kind of a banner year,” Mr. Bonilla said, “for legislative interference in the academic freedom of university systems.”

Correction (6/13/2014, 1:13 p.m.): This article originally misspelled the surname of an official at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. He is William Creeley, not Creely. The article has been updated to reflect this correction.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Scholarship & Research Academic Freedom
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
About the Author
Peter Schmidt
Peter Schmidt was a senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education. He covered affirmative action, academic labor, and issues related to academic freedom. He is a co-author of The Merit Myth: How Our Colleges Favor the Rich and Divide America (The New Press, 2020).
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Graphic vector illustration of a ship with education-like embellishments being tossed on a black sea with a Kraken-esque elephant trunk ascending from the depth against a stormy red background.
Creeping concerns
Most Colleges Aren’t a Target of Trump (Yet). Here’s How Their Presidents Are Leading.
Photo-based illustration of calendars on a wall (July, August and September) with a red line marking through most of the dates
'A Creative Solution'
Facing Federal Uncertainty, Swarthmore Makes a Novel Plan: the 3-Month Budget
Marva Johnson is set to take the helm of Florida A&M University this summer.
Leadership & governance
‘Surprising': A DeSantis-Backed Lobbyist Is Tapped to Lead Florida A&M
Students and community members protest outside of Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
Campus Activism
One Year After the Encampments, Campuses Are Quieter and Quicker to Stop Protests

From The Review

Glenn Loury in Providence, R.I. on May 7, 2024.
The Review | Conversation
Glenn Loury on the ‘Barbarians at the Gates’
By Evan Goldstein, Len Gutkin
Illustration showing a valedictorian speaker who's tassel is a vintage microphone
The Review | Opinion
A Graduation Speaker Gets Canceled
By Corey Robin
Illustration showing a stack of coins and a university building falling over
The Review | Opinion
Here’s What Congress’s Endowment-Tax Plan Might Cost Your College
By Phillip Levine

Upcoming Events

Ascendium_06-10-25_Plain.png
Views on College and Alternative Pathways
Coursera_06-17-25_Plain.png
AI and Microcredentials
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin