This has been a year of unprecedented challenges for higher education. With just a few days left in 2020, I urge you to make a tax-deductible contribution before the new year. We are grateful for the generosity of all who have given already. Special thanks go to our dedicated supporters who contribute every year—or every month by setting up a monthly recurring donation.
As we look toward 2021 with hope for relief, we must remain vigilant about protecting academic freedom and shared governance. Too many administrations and governing boards have used the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse to take unilateral actions that jeopardize public health, the educational mission of colleges and universities, and the economic security of academic professionals. Your tax-deductible contribution to the AAUP Foundation will provide essential funding for the AAUP’s work on behalf of faculty, including many faculty members who have lost their positions during the past year and those who remain vulnerable.
The AAUP Foundation is funding a sweeping governance investigation that will address the crisis in academic governance that has occurred in the wake of the pandemic. The investigation, currently focusing on eight institutions, comes at a time when the AAUP’s Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance has received numerous complaints about unilateral actions taken, in the words of the department’s director, Gregory Scholtz, “to dictate how courses are taught, to suspend key institutional regulations, to reduce and close departments and majors, to compel faculty members to teach in person, and to lay off long-serving faculty members.” It is the broadest investigation the AAUP has conducted since its 1956 report on attacks on academic freedom at eighteen institutions during the McCarthy era.
As the charitable and educational arm of the AAUP, the Foundation enables work that membership dues alone cannot fund. The Foundation's Legal Defense Fund supports faculty members involved in appellate litigation that protects academic freedom and professional rights. It also provides funding for the AAUP’s work on amicus briefs in cases with important implications for higher education. The Academic Freedom Fund supports both governance and academic freedom investigations and underwrites publication costs for the AAUP’s Journal of Academic Freedom and for materials related to academic freedom in Academe and the annual Bulletin. It also provides grants to individual faculty members whose academic freedom has been violated.
If the AAUP Foundation is to continue its important work, we must expand its efforts and strengthen its urgently needed financial resources. Please donate today.
You can also remember the AAUP Foundation in your will and leave a legacy to protect academic freedom in the future. For more information about the Foundation, and about giving options, visit our website.
Thank you for your loyal and generous support! Please forward this email to friends and colleagues who may be interested in our mission.
Henry Reichman
Chair, AAUP Foundation
P.S. If you prefer to donate by mail, please make a check payable to "AAUP Foundation" and send to:
AAUP Foundation
1133 Nineteenth Street NW, Suite 200
Washington DC 20036
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