AFA Membership Surpasses 400
Members come from a range of institutions, backgrounds, and ideologies
PRINCETON, NJ – This week, the Academic Freedom Alliance announced that its membership has grown to 406 faculty members across the United States. Since launching in March 2021 with more than 200 founding members, the AFA has continued to add a diverse contingent of new members in a rolling invitation and review process overseen by its Membership Committee.
“The AFA’s continued growth is an encouraging sign for academic freedom,” said Keith E. Whittington, chair of the AFA’s academic committee. “We continue to see strong membership interest from across the spectrum of ideologies, disciplines, and institutions, and interest has increased as our involvement in cases has expanded. While their individual viewpoints differ, our members are united by the belief that all faculty have a right to speak and teach freely without fear of sanction.”
All new members are asked to agree to the AFA’s mission statement, including a commitment that they will “defend faculty members’ freedom of thought and expression in their work as researchers and writers or in their lives as citizens, within established ethical and legal bounds.” At this time, membership to the AFA is by invitation only, but those interested in joining may inquire via the AFA’s website or by contacting an existing member.
The full list of AFA members is available here. Further information on our members’ scholarly disciplines and institutions can be found below.
Membership by Academic Discipline:
- Social Sciences – 126
- Humanities – 87
- Law – 81
- Natural and Applied Sciences – 74
- Business – 21
- Medicine – 13
- Education – 3
- Admin – 1
Membership by Institution:
- Private College or University – 262
- Public College or University – 144
The Academic Freedom Alliance is a diverse alliance of college and university faculty members who are dedicated to upholding the principles of academic freedom and professorial free speech. These principles are central to the mission of our institutions of higher education for the pursuit of truth and knowledge. The AFA is committed to defending universal principles of academic freedom and will come to the assistance of professors regardless of their individual views. The Academic Freedom Alliance itself takes no position on the merits of the substantive content of faculty speech or writing.