21 Scholarly Groups Denounce Cutting of Tenure Protections in Wisconsin

Twenty-one scholarly groups led by the American Historical Association wrote on Thursday that they were “gravely concerned” about looming changes in tenure and shared governance in Wisconsin.

The state’s Republican governor, Scott Walker, is poised to sign into law the controversial proposals, which will, among other things, strip tenure protections from state law. The University of Wisconsin system’s Board of Regents has already voted to incorporate those protections into system policy.

“Rather than making the University of Wisconsin system more fiscally nimble, the Joint Finance Committee recommendations threaten to damage, possibly irreparably, the distinguished educational system that has justifiably been the pride of Wisconsin residents for more than a century and a half,” the associations wrote in their open letter.