News & Op-Eds
In The News
The Illusion of Consensus: An Interview with Professor Jeffrey Flier, M.D.
The Illusion of Consensus: An Interview with Professor Jeffrey Flier, M.D. Professor Jeffrey Flier, M.D. is the Higginson Professor of Medicine and Physiology at Harvard Medical School. From 2007-2016, Professor Flier served as the 21st Dean at HMS and he holds the...
February 2023
February Update from the Academic Freedom Alliance Newest Additions to our Interview Series This month, we released two new interviews as part of our regular series of conversations with leading scholars on academic freedom issues. The first is a conversation with...
A Strong & Positive Force for Academic Freedom: An Interview with Professor Julia Mahoney
A Strong & Positive Force for Academic Freedom: An Interview with Professor Julia Mahoney Conducted and Edited by Howard Muncy Professor Julia Mahoney is the John S. Battle Professor of Law at the University of Virginia. Professor Mahoney teaches courses about...
Making a Critical Difference: A Conversation with Professor Lars Jensen
Making a Critical Difference: A Conversation with Professor Lars Jensen Conducted and Edited by Howard Muncy Lars Jensen is a professor and chair of the math department at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada. In late 2021, Professor Jensen was involved...
January 2023
January Update from the Academic Freedom Alliance The Academic Freedom Alliance is off to a busy start in 2023. Below is a summary of our key actions from this month. Letter to Hamline University On January 2, the AFA sent a letter to Hamline University regarding its...
Weaponizing Feelings and New Trends in Academic Freedom: An Interview with Jonathan Zimmerman
Weaponizing Feelings and New Trends in Academic Freedom: An Interview with Jonathan Zimmerman Conducted and edited by Howard Muncy Jonathan Zimmerman is the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Zimmerman has...
An Emerging Community of Scholars: An Interview with Professor Christopher Tollefsen
An Emerging Community of Scholars: An Interview with Professor Christopher Tollefsen Conducted and edited by Howard Muncy Christopher Tollefsen, a founding member of the Academic Freedom Alliance, is a professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina. I was...
AFA Calls for an End to “Divisive Concepts” Legislation
AFA Calls for an End to “Divisive Concepts” Legislation New wave of state level proposals seeks to ban instruction on race and gender topics PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today released a statement urging policymakers to refrain from adopting...
AFA Sends Letter to Hamline University Over Dismissal of Professor
AFA Sends Letter to Hamline University Over Dismissal of Professor Professor fired for showing medieval painting of Muhammad in session on Islamic art PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today sent a letter to Hamline University regarding its handling...
December 2022
December Update from the Academic Freedom Alliance We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and resting up before the spring semester. It’s been a busy year for the Academic Freedom Alliance and we’re grateful for all of the support, involvement, and continued...
Rebuilding a Culture of Academic Freedom - A Conversation with Keith Whittington
Law and Liberty Podcast, June 1, 2021
Keith Whittington - Fighting for Faculty Freedom
Two for Tea Podcast
May 16, 2021
Some Academic Freedom Victories
Keith E. Whittington, Reason
May 5, 2021
Professors Are Demanding Their Academic Freedom (And That’s A Good Thing For The Rest Of Us)
Emily Chamlee-Wright, Forbes
April 16, 2021
Free Speech Is Under Threat on College Campuses. Here’s How to Fight Back.
Keith E. Whittington, National Review
March 18, 2021
Fresh Hope for Campus Free Speech
Editorial Board, New York Post
March 15, 2021
A Star Is Born!!! The Academic Freedom Alliance
Richard Vedder, Forbes Magazine
March 15, 2021
College Educators Form Alliance to Defend Free Expression
Voice of America
March 13, 2021
Academic Freedom Alliance: A Welcome Addition to Fight for Campus Expression
Peter Bonilla, FIRE
March 12, 2021
Speaking the Truth: Heed the Words of Frederick Douglass
Lucas E. Morel, Persuasion
March 12, 2021
More Defenders of Campus Free Speech
Wall Street Journal
March 9, 2021
New Nonpartisan Faculty Group Will Promote and Defend Free Speech, Academic Freedom
Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed
March 9, 2021
Academic Freedom Alliance: Q & A with Keith Whittington
Princetonians For Free Speech
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Alliance to Defend Free Expression
Hillel Italie, AP News
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021
College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021
AFA News
AFA Calls for an End to “Divisive Concepts” Legislation
AFA Calls for an End to “Divisive Concepts” Legislation New wave of state level proposals seeks to ban instruction on race and gender topics PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today released a statement urging policymakers to refrain from adopting...
AFA Sends Letter to Hamline University Over Dismissal of Professor
AFA Sends Letter to Hamline University Over Dismissal of Professor Professor fired for showing medieval painting of Muhammad in session on Islamic art PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today sent a letter to Hamline University regarding its handling...
AFA Statement on NYU Prof. Maitland Jones
AFA Releases Statement on NYU Prof. Maitland Jones NYU refused to rehire Jones over his professional judgement in grading PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today released a statement on the non-renewal of employment for Prof. Maitland Jones of New...
AFA Sends Letter to University of Idaho on Abortion Guidance
AFA Sends Letter to U. of Idaho Regarding Classroom Discussion of Abortion Letter expresses concern over guidance that faculty should remain neutral on the topic PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today sent a letter to the University of Idaho...
AFA Calls for An End to Required Diversity Statements
AFA Calls for An End to Required Diversity Statements Statement says forced pledges of conformity “threaten to impose a suffocating orthodoxy” PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today released a statement urging institutions of higher education to...
Opinion and Commentary
Free Speech Is a Core Tenet of the Academy. College Trustees Really Ought to Know That.
Keith E. Whittington, The Chronicle of Higher Education
December 5, 2018
Truth Seeking, Democracy, and Freedom of Thought and Expression
A Statement by Robert P. George and Cornel West
March 14, 2017
Academics Are Really, Really Worried About Their Freedom
John McWhorter, The Atlantic
September 1, 2020
Free Speech Prevails at Princeton
Robert P. George, First Things
July 28, 2020
Protecting Academic Freedom in the Black Lives Matter Era
Jonathan Zimmerman, Inside Higher Ed
June 22, 2020
The Legal Problem With Diversity Statements
Brian Leiter, The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 13, 2020
Can We Guarantee That Colleges Are Intellectually Diverse?
Molly Worthen, The New York Times
August 30, 2019
Unpopular Speech in A Cold Climate
Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker
March 14, 2019
How a Dispute Over the N-Word Became a Dispiriting Farce
Randall Kennedy, The Chronicle of Higher Education
February 8, 2019
The AFA does not endorse or take any position on the content or opinions represented in these works.
Learn More About the Academic Freedom Alliance
Individuals at academic institutions should not fear suppression or retaliation for teaching, writing, or speaking. We encourage you to join the movement in supporting the flourishing of intellectual life and the pursuit of knowledge and truth at institutions of higher learning.