March Update from the AFA
Speaking Out on Deportations
The AFA this week sent a statement regarding the deportation of non-citizen scholars and students. This statement followed the Trump administration’s decision to deport or revoke the visas of hundreds of international students involved in campus protests and demonstrations.
“It is a grave threat to the mission of American universities if international scholars and students fear removal from the United States based on little more than their expression of views disfavored by people holding public office,” our statement read. “Academic freedom is a condition of the robust exchange of ideas that drives the pursuit of knowledge in colleges and universities, and everyone in an academic community must be equally protected in their academic freedom.”
The statement continued, “A climate of uncertainty is itself a threat to the free exchange of ideas on American university campuses. It is imperative that the government not only refrain from removing individuals from the country for exercising First Amendment liberties but also credibly reassure the scholarly community that the immigration laws will not be used to stifle First Amendment protected speech.”
Progress Toward Institutional Neutrality
In February of last year, we joined with the Heterodox Academy and FIRE to jointly call on colleges and universities to adopt a policy of institutional neutrality. This concept, whereby institutions decline to take positions on controversial political and cultural topics, was originally pioneered by the University of Chicago and formalized in its 1967 Kalven Report.
As a result of our call to action, universities and colleges dramatically shifted their approach to controversial social and political issues. According to a new analysis by HxA, by the end of 2024, at least 148 institutions—serving a total of roughly 2.6 million students—had adopted a policy of institutional statement neutrality.
Similarly, our statement from August 2022 urging universities to desist from demanding “diversity statements” as conditions of employment or promotion is also continuing to drive results. Last month, the University of California system announced that its institutions will no longer be able to require that applicants submit diversity statements. They join a growing list of institutions banning such statements and practices.
Podcast On Columbia and the Trump Administration
Our podcast continues to gain steam, recently surpassing 10,000 downloads. In our latest episode, Keith Whittington spoke to David Cole, the Honorable George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University Law Center. He is also the former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. This episode focuses on the recent “Statement from Constitutional Law Scholars on Columbia,” of which Professor Cole was a lead author.
That statement was signed by an ideologically diverse group of 18 scholars ranging from Steven Calabresi and Eugene Volokh to Erwin Chemerinsky and Pam Karlan. Keith Whittington also signed the statement. It read, in part, “The government may not threaten funding cuts as a tool to pressure recipients” into suppressing certain controversial viewpoints. You can stream their discussion here or wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple, Spotify, or Google.
In related news, Princeton this week became the fourth Ivy League school that has seen its financial support reduced or threatened. The AFA’s Robert P. George was interviewed in The New York Times on the matter, saying the decision was likely headed for a showdown in court. “If the government’s going to take action against any university, not just Princeton, we have to be sure they’re following the proper procedures,” Professor George stated. “I am one of the founders of the Academic Freedom Alliance. I believe that the protection of academic freedom is crucial to the mission of the university.”
Interview with Janet Halley on the AFA
In the latest in our interview series, Howard Muncy sat down with Janet Halley, the Eli Goldston Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance. They discussed the origins of the AFA, its ongoing work, and her thoughts about new challenges to academic freedom.
“I think it’s important to remind ourselves, individually and collectively, why we are doing this in the first place,” Halley said of the AFA. “Academic life is about the search for knowledge. We can’t search for knowledge without disagreement, trial and error, and space for speculative, unbounded thought. We all need to up our skills for protecting robust inquiry, hard questions, surprising discoveries. We need to learn to trust that people whom we disagree with can be in good faith. Academic freedom is just one tool we as academics have in the pursuit of those important modes of human interaction. But it is a crucial one.”
Membership Updates
We added six new members since our last update for a total membership of 914. 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.
The AFA is continuing to fund our existing cases while also looking into a handful of new issues. As we expand our membership and casework, we’re grateful to everyone who has donated to our organization and hope our members and friends will consider contributing here. We could not do our work without your generous support.