January Update from the AFA
Thank you to all of our members and supporters who donated for our 2024 end of year campaign. While we didn’t reach our $100,000 goal, we got close thanks to your generosity. We’re coming off of an excellent year in 2024 in which we won six cases and have two others that remain active. This year is shaping up to be another busy one as we look into several new matters that may require our assistance. This will be our fourth year of existence and we’re looking to build on our 22 prior victories. Your ongoing support is critical to enabling these successes. As always, you can visit our donation page to pitch in.
Our Podcast is Back
Many of you have asked about the status of The Academic Freedom Podcast, our popular interview series with leading scholars about defending and advancing free expression on campuses. After a lengthy hiatus, we announced the return of the podcast in December – and it is now co-sponsored by the Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech at Yale Law School, recently founded by our host and founding chair of the AFA’s academic committee, Keith Whittington.
Since the relaunch, we have released two new episodes. The first features an interview with Cary Nelson, the Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts & Sciences Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He served for many years with the American Association of University Professors, including terms as its president from 2006 to 2012. The second is a conversation with Timothy Zick, the John Marshall Professor of Government and Citizenship at William & Mary Law School and a leading expert on the First Amendment law surrounding protest activities.
You can find the series anywhere you get your podcasts, including Apple, Spotify, Google, and Audible. We plan to get back to a regular monthly schedule of new episodes.
Successful Event on Censorship in the Sciences
This month, the AFA cosponsored a conference titled Censorship in the Sciences: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, hosted by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research. The conference was well attended and videos of the full program are available here. Academic Committee member Anna Krylov and Director of Operations Howard Muncy gave presentations promoting the work of the AFA.
The conference brought together experts to address contentious issues and questions about scientific censorship, including: When, if ever, does rejection of manuscripts for publication or grants for funding constitute censorship? How much of a role, if any, should ethical/moral issues play in deciding which scientific ideas to disseminate? What are the likely costs and benefits of institutionalized censorship, how do we decide, and who decides, when the benefits outweigh the costs?
Continued Growth
We added eight new members since our last update for a total membership of 904. We would like to surpass 1000 this year and appreciate any and all recommendations from our current members that may help us meet that goal. Please send any nominations to AFA Director of Operations Howard Muncy at hmuncy@academicfreedom.org.
We expect a big year for 2025 so please be on the lookout for new cases, events, podcasts, interviews, updates on existing matters, and other activities. Thanks for your continued support.