Dissent is flourishing on American college campuses this fall, and not just among student activists. As student protests have been curtailed by novel restrictions, teachers have taken up the cause.
For faculty, novel protest rules threaten freedom of expression – and freedom of thought, both of which are central to university life. Some of the most evident demonstrations this semester included professors advocating for the right to protest.
Last spring, pro-Palestinian camps crowded schools and disrupted college commencement plans, prompting accusations of anti-Semitism and prompting novel restrictions.
At Indiana University, an “Expressive Activity Policy” implemented in August prohibits protests after 11 p.m., prohibits camping on campus and requires pre-approval for signs. That’s why every Sunday, a group of faculty, students and community members gather on campus for candlelight vigils that extend past the 11:00 p.m. deadline.
Russ Skiba, a professor emeritus who attended the vigils, said the novel restrictions are part of a larger movement to restrict academic freedom on campus.
In Indiana, the Republican governor signed a law in March that strengthens state oversight of public universities. The law, sponsored by a lawmaker who said colleges suffer from “monolithic thinking,” subjects teachers to post-tenure reviews for whether they promote diversity of thought and keep their political views out of the classroom. Skiba and other Indiana professors largely opposed the bill, which they criticized as vague and open to interpretation.
“Universities are bastions of free speech, but when there is an anti-democratic movement, free speech is one of the places that is most under attack,” Skiba said.
Faculty members at colleges in other parts of the country have pushed back against the novel rules with protests, vigils and demands for explanations.
A group of Harvard University professors held a “study-in” event at a campus library on October 16 in support of pro-Palestinian students who were temporarily barred from the library for holding a similar demonstration. In September, a group of University of California faculty members filed a complaint alleging the system attempted to restrict their academic freedom and discourage them from teaching about the Israel-Hamas war “in a way that would not consistent with the university’s own position.”
For some professors, the protest restrictions are also a work issue.
Universities are granting fewer professors enduring positions and are under pressure in some areas to eliminate this position entirely. In several states, lawmakers have taken an interest in how topics related to race, gender and history are taught. Some professors say protest policies issued by the administration are another way to limit faculty say in university affairs.
“We as a faculty must organize and demand the kind of shared governance that gives us the right to review and challenge these policies,” said Todd Wolfson, a professor of journalism and media studies at Rutgers University and president of the American Association of University Professors. “They are not made by people who come from the academic side of our institutions.”
Tensions have been high on campuses across the country since the war began more than a year ago when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. Over 42,000 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters.
Colleges have been under enormous pressure, including from Republicans in Congress, to protect students from discrimination while preserving free speech. Demonstrations last spring blocked pedestrian traffic on parts of some campuses and featured anti-Semitic images and rhetoric. The protests make some Jewish faculty members and students feel unsafe.
Shirin Vossoughi, a professor at Northwestern University, was among 52 faculty members who signed an open letter opposing the school’s novel demonstration policy because it gave in to political pressure to silence certain types of activism. She said the rules crack down not only on free expression, but particularly against pro-Palestinian voices.
“Many universities have been rewriting their demonstration and code of conduct policies this summer, and I think my first thought is that it is very clear that this is a response to dissent in Palestine,” she said.
During protests last spring, some faculty members joined the demonstrators. Others acted as intermediaries for students who they believed were under their care and protection. Faculty voted no-confidence in the leaders of schools including Columbia University, the University of Massachusetts, Brandeis University and Cal Poly Humboldt over their handling of the protests.
At Northwestern University, Steven Thrasher was among three faculty members charged by university police with obstructing law enforcement during protests last spring. He was suspended and removed from teaching this fall while the university investigated.
“I saw my role as a protector of students’ safety and their ability to express themselves,” Thrasher said this fall. “When I saw violence happening towards students, I knew I would do what I could.”
While schools say the rules are designed to curb disruption, teachers say they work to neutralize dissent.
“The point of a protest is to be seen and heard,” said Michael Thaddeus, a mathematics professor at Columbia University, where novel rules require advance notice and prevent demonstrations that “significantly interfere with the primary purposes” of a campus area. “The right to freedom of expression is not guaranteed if you can only speak into a void and no one can hear you, and that includes the right to be seen and heard by people who do not like what you have to say.”
Professors also made a connection to the growing proportion of lecturers, lecturers and professors who do not enjoy enduring protection. Professors are increasingly viewing the issue of speech and academic freedom as a work issue in the wake of the raids, said Risa Lieberwitz, AAUP general counsel.
“We’re seeing unionization continue to increase,” she said. “I think to some extent it’s because it’s so important to organize and demand democratic rights.”
Wolfson said professors must advocate for students’ rights to demonstrate and speak freely.
“Your free speech rights are the lifeblood of the university,” Wolfson said. “We cannot have a university based on critical thinking and the exploration of questions if we limit students’ right to protest what they believe is a massive problem and when they see a way forward for the university to do so to actually deal with it productively.”
___
Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press education coverage receives funding from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP Standards for Working with Charities, a list of supporters, and supported areas at AP.org.
