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In The News
November 2024
November Update from the AFA Today marks “Giving Tuesday” and we hope that you will consider the AFA if you are donating to a cause this year. As we approach our fifth year, the AFA has awarded over $400,000 in direct funding for legal assistance. This total has...
October 2024
October Update from the AFA The AFA continues our work on several existing cases and is also exploring additional requests for assistance. In the meantime, below are updates from the month of October. Keith Whittington Sits Down with John Tomasi How does political...
September 2024
September Update from the AFA Wins on Institutional Neutrality In February of this year, we began a partnership with FIRE and the Heterodox Academy to call for more universities to adopt policies of institutional neutrality on social and political issues. We renewed...
AFA Statement on Penn’s Suspension of Amy Wax
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...
August 2024
August Update from the AFA Controversy Over AAUP Statement As many of you know, the American Association of University Professors came under fire this month after it declared academic boycotts to be “legitimate tactical responses” and “not in themselves violations of...
July 2024
July Update from the AFA Our Call to End DEI Statements in Grant Funding On July 18, the AFA released a major new guidance statement calling on federal agencies that fund research in STEMM fields to desist from requiring DEI statements in their grant proposals....
AFA Calls for End to Required Diversity Statements in Federal Grant Funding
AFA Calls for End to Required Diversity Statements in Federal Grant Funding New guidance statement warns of the dangers of compelled speech to research integrity and academic freedom PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance today called on federal agencies that...
AFA Announces Favorable Court Ruling for Dr. Michael Joyner
AFA Announces Favorable Court Ruling for Dr. Michael Joyner Court Denied Most of the Mayo Clinic’s Motion to Dismiss Joyner’s Claims PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance today announced a court ruling in favor of Dr. Michael Joyner in his case against the...
June 2024
June Update from the AFA Successful Resolution of Case at USC On June 20, we announced the favorable resolution of our case in defense of John Strauss, a professor at the University of Southern California who was accused of harassment by student protestors after he...
New Scholarly Works on Academic Freedom
New Scholarly Works on Academic Freedom Below is a transcription from a recorded session at the Academic Freedom Alliance’s recent annualmeeting. The meeting took place from June 9-11 and was held at Nassau Inn in Princeton, NewJersey. Howard Muncy: Our final session...
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 Announces Favorable Court Ruling for Dr. Michael Joyner
AFA Announces Favorable Court Ruling for Dr. Michael Joyner Court Denied Most of the Mayo Clinic’s Motion to Dismiss Joyner’s Claims PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance today announced a court ruling in favor of Dr. Michael Joyner in his case against the...
AFA Announces Successful Resolution of Case at USC
AFA Announces Successful Resolution of Case at USC USC Dismisses Case Against Professor John Strauss Regarding Exchange with Protestors PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance today announced the favorable resolution of its case in defense of John Strauss, a...
AFA Urges Penn to Reject Proposed Sanctions Against Amy Wax
AFA Urges Penn to Reject Proposed Sanctions Against Amy Wax Letter Urges Faculty Senate Committee to Reject Proposed Punishments PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance today sent a letter to the University of Pennsylvania’s Senate Committee on Academic Freedom...
New Memo Filed with Court in Doctor’s Lawsuit Against Mayo Clinic
New Memo Filed with Court in Doctor’s Lawsuit Against Mayo Clinic Memo Urges Court to Deny Mayo’s Partial Motion to Dismiss PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance today announced a new memorandum filed with the District Court in the state of Minnesota in Dr....
AFA Urges Columbia to End Investigation into Professor’s Political Statements
AFA Urges Columbia to End Investigation into Professor’s Political Statements Jewish professor investigated for criticizing activity of pro-Palestine student groups PRINCETON, NJ – The Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA) today sent a letter to Columbia University...
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.