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In The News

June 2025

by | Jul 7, 2025 |

June Update from the AFA Favorable Court Ruling for Dr. Joyner Dr. Michael Joyner’s case against the Mayo Clinic, which is funded and supported by the AFA, has been approved by a judge to move forward to a jury trial in September. The Third Judicial Court of Olmsted...

May 2025

by | May 30, 2025 |

May Update from the AFA Defending a Professor Punished for a Tweet The AFA sent a letter to Columbia University this month in favor of Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, a tenured professor and department chair who was punished in 2022 over an instance of extramural speech. In...

April 2025

by | May 5, 2025 |

April Update from the AFA Defending a Professor Fired Over His Nationality On April 3, we sent a letter to the Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida regarding a professor’s firing from New College of Florida. The college reportedly terminated...

March 2025

by | Apr 2, 2025 |

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...

February 2025

by | Mar 6, 2025 |

February Update from the AFA The AFA continues to monitor and provide legal resources in several cases, including Dr. Michael Joyner’s case against the Mayo Clinic and Kenderick Morales's against Spelman College. Last month, we helped support a professor at a public...

January 2025

by | Jan 31, 2025 |

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...

stone university building with old door and archway vestibule with two tress with pink bud flowers on either side
Please direct all media inquiries to: press@academicfreedom.org
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Rebuilding a Culture of Academic Freedom - A Conversation with Keith Whittington

Law and Liberty Podcast, June 1, 2021

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Keith Whittington - Fighting for Faculty Freedom

Two for Tea Podcast
May 16, 2021

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Some Academic Freedom Victories

Keith E. Whittington, Reason
May 5, 2021

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Professors Are Demanding Their Academic Freedom (And That’s A Good Thing For The Rest Of Us)

Emily Chamlee-Wright, Forbes
April 16, 2021

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Freedom and Wokeness on Campus: Academic Freedom Alliance chair Keith Whittington discusses how to preserve freedom of speech and humane discourse.

PBS, The Open Mind
April 12, 2021

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Free Speech Is Under Threat on College Campuses. Here’s How to Fight Back.

Keith E. Whittington, National Review 
March 18, 2021

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Fresh Hope for Campus Free Speech

Editorial Board, New York Post
March 15, 2021

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A Star Is Born!!! The Academic Freedom Alliance

Richard Vedder, Forbes Magazine
March 15, 2021

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College Educators Form Alliance to Defend Free Expression

Voice of America
March 13, 2021

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Academic Freedom Alliance: A Welcome Addition to Fight for Campus Expression

Peter Bonilla, FIRE
March 12, 2021

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Speaking the Truth: Heed the Words of Frederick Douglass

Lucas E. Morel, Persuasion
March 12, 2021

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More Defenders of Campus Free Speech

Wall Street Journal
March 9, 2021

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New Nonpartisan Faculty Group Will Promote and Defend Free Speech, Academic Freedom

Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed
March 9, 2021

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Academic Freedom Alliance: Q & A with Keith Whittington

Princetonians For Free Speech
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Alliance to Defend Free Expression

Hillel Italie, AP News
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression

Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression

Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression

Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression

Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression

Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression

Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression

Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021

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College Educators Form Free Speech Alliance to Counter Cancel Culture and Viewpoint Suppression

Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner
March 8, 2021

AFA News

AFA Announces Favorable Court Ruling for Dr. Michael Joyner

Jul 1, 2025 |

AFA Announces Favorable Court Ruling for Dr. Michael Joyner Court allows case against the Mayo Clinic to proceed to jury trial PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today announced that Dr. Michael Joyner’s case against the Mayo Clinic, which is funded...

AFA Statement on Penn’s Suspension of Amy Wax

Sep 25, 2024 |

AFA Statement on Penn’s Suspension of Amy Wax Penn’s punishment of Wax is a “manifest betrayal of its own commitment to its faculty” PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance today issued a statement regarding the University of Pennsylvania’s decision to suspend...

Opinion and Commentary

image of a college campus, stone archway looking out to a green quad with trees
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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

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Truth Seeking, Democracy, and Freedom of Thought and Expression

A Statement by Robert P. George and Cornel West
March 14, 2017

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Academics Are Really, Really Worried About Their Freedom

John McWhorter, The Atlantic 
September 1, 2020

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Free Speech Prevails at Princeton

Robert P. George, First Things
July 28, 2020

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Protecting Academic Freedom in the Black Lives Matter Era

Jonathan Zimmerman, Inside Higher Ed
June 22, 2020

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The Legal Problem With Diversity Statements

Brian Leiter, The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 13, 2020

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Can We Guarantee That Colleges Are Intellectually Diverse?

Molly Worthen, The New York Times
August 30, 2019

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Unpopular Speech in A Cold Climate

Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker
March 14, 2019 

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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.

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