GMU-AAUP
@aaupmason.bsky.social
We are the AAUP faculty advocacy chapter at George Mason University
linktr.ee/aaupmason
linktr.ee/aaupmason
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
When we are deprived of challenge in thought, we lose the ability to challenge thought. . . . At what point is a course no longer a course, but a state-sanctioned review of material?"
Read the whole thing -- and join AAUP NC in fighting this syllabus policy.
dailytarheel.com/article/opin...
Read the whole thing -- and join AAUP NC in fighting this syllabus policy.
dailytarheel.com/article/opin...
Column: A conservative UNC System wants to deprive us of our right to learn
"At what point is a course no longer a course, but a state-sanctioned review of material?"
dailytarheel.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:28 PM
When we are deprived of challenge in thought, we lose the ability to challenge thought. . . . At what point is a course no longer a course, but a state-sanctioned review of material?"
Read the whole thing -- and join AAUP NC in fighting this syllabus policy.
dailytarheel.com/article/opin...
Read the whole thing -- and join AAUP NC in fighting this syllabus policy.
dailytarheel.com/article/opin...
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
“This would make excellent material for a Monty Python sketch. One can imagine the official censorship list: these dialogues you are permitted to teach; those you must pretend do not exist — and if you ever cross the line, you will be fired.”
January 11, 2026 at 4:05 PM
“This would make excellent material for a Monty Python sketch. One can imagine the official censorship list: these dialogues you are permitted to teach; those you must pretend do not exist — and if you ever cross the line, you will be fired.”
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
This year, the AAUP proved something powerful: When we fight, we win.
Your gift to the AAUP Foundation will power legal challenges, advocacy & education that defend the core values of higher ed. Please donate at the link below.
An injury to one is an injury to all. Together, we are stronger.
Your gift to the AAUP Foundation will power legal challenges, advocacy & education that defend the core values of higher ed. Please donate at the link below.
An injury to one is an injury to all. Together, we are stronger.
Giving
Information about various ways to give to the AAUP Foundation.
www.aaupfoundation.org
December 26, 2025 at 6:02 PM
This year, the AAUP proved something powerful: When we fight, we win.
Your gift to the AAUP Foundation will power legal challenges, advocacy & education that defend the core values of higher ed. Please donate at the link below.
An injury to one is an injury to all. Together, we are stronger.
Your gift to the AAUP Foundation will power legal challenges, advocacy & education that defend the core values of higher ed. Please donate at the link below.
An injury to one is an injury to all. Together, we are stronger.
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
“Today’s rushed appointment of Scott Beardsley as University of Virginia president by UVA’s Board of Visitors, with little meaningful faculty input, is an affront to the entire UVA community in a time of crisis.”
— joint statement from
@proftwolf.bsky.social & @rweingarten.bsky.social
— joint statement from
@proftwolf.bsky.social & @rweingarten.bsky.social
Rushed UVA Presidential Appointment an Affront
Rather than heeding calls to pause the search until a fair and transparent process can be initiated, the board regrettably chose to push through an appointment without a duly constituted membership. T...
www.aaup.org
December 19, 2025 at 11:57 PM
“Today’s rushed appointment of Scott Beardsley as University of Virginia president by UVA’s Board of Visitors, with little meaningful faculty input, is an affront to the entire UVA community in a time of crisis.”
— joint statement from
@proftwolf.bsky.social & @rweingarten.bsky.social
— joint statement from
@proftwolf.bsky.social & @rweingarten.bsky.social
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
The New School is a beacon of higher education thanks to the labor of its faculty & staff.
I strongly urge @thenewschool.bsky.social to extend the deadline for faculty to consider separation packages, engage in good faith & protect the programs that make New School a globally renowned institution.
I strongly urge @thenewschool.bsky.social to extend the deadline for faculty to consider separation packages, engage in good faith & protect the programs that make New School a globally renowned institution.
December 15, 2025 at 8:32 PM
The New School is a beacon of higher education thanks to the labor of its faculty & staff.
I strongly urge @thenewschool.bsky.social to extend the deadline for faculty to consider separation packages, engage in good faith & protect the programs that make New School a globally renowned institution.
I strongly urge @thenewschool.bsky.social to extend the deadline for faculty to consider separation packages, engage in good faith & protect the programs that make New School a globally renowned institution.
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
This is how you stand up for educators against politically motivated attacks on teaching.
Please sign OU AAUP’s petition demanding that OU protect the freedom to teach & learn, & stand up against targeted harassment & intimidation.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
actionnetwork.org/forms/defend...
Please sign OU AAUP’s petition demanding that OU protect the freedom to teach & learn, & stand up against targeted harassment & intimidation.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
actionnetwork.org/forms/defend...
December 16, 2025 at 7:13 PM
This is how you stand up for educators against politically motivated attacks on teaching.
Please sign OU AAUP’s petition demanding that OU protect the freedom to teach & learn, & stand up against targeted harassment & intimidation.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
actionnetwork.org/forms/defend...
Please sign OU AAUP’s petition demanding that OU protect the freedom to teach & learn, & stand up against targeted harassment & intimidation.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
actionnetwork.org/forms/defend...
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
New School AAUP president Jeremy Varon called the cuts “an ideological attempt to decimate historic spaces of critical inquiry & social justice.” He said the humanities & social sciences would be “purged” under the plan.
Great piece out today on the crisis at The New School in the @gothamist.com:
Great piece out today on the crisis at The New School in the @gothamist.com:
The New School faces identity crisis amid planned layoffs, reorganization
The storied leftist university faces a $48 million deficit.
gothamist.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:42 PM
New School AAUP president Jeremy Varon called the cuts “an ideological attempt to decimate historic spaces of critical inquiry & social justice.” He said the humanities & social sciences would be “purged” under the plan.
Great piece out today on the crisis at The New School in the @gothamist.com:
Great piece out today on the crisis at The New School in the @gothamist.com:
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
“What I think that professors should do is always teach the truth. We have a moral obligation. There are some things that are worth the consequences...If these red states get their way, this will fundamentally destroy higher ed, fundamentally destroy facts."
— Leonard Bright, TAMU AAUP
— Leonard Bright, TAMU AAUP
As colleges clamp down on the teaching of gender, advocates say professors taking the hit
Professors are taking the brunt of the storm as new fights over the teaching of gender and race erupt in college classrooms. An Oklahoma University (OU) student is accusing her instructor of religious...
www.aol.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:37 PM
“What I think that professors should do is always teach the truth. We have a moral obligation. There are some things that are worth the consequences...If these red states get their way, this will fundamentally destroy higher ed, fundamentally destroy facts."
— Leonard Bright, TAMU AAUP
— Leonard Bright, TAMU AAUP
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
www.highereddive.com/news/george-...
Thankful to my fellow Senators who took a stand to pass this important resolution co-authored by @aaupmason.bsky.social
Thankful to my fellow Senators who took a stand to pass this important resolution co-authored by @aaupmason.bsky.social
George Mason faculty urge leaders to reject Trump deals risking ‘institutional autonomy’
A Wednesday resolution from the faculty senate argued that the university's board and president should not put it under "continuing federal supervision.”
www.highereddive.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:11 AM
www.highereddive.com/news/george-...
Thankful to my fellow Senators who took a stand to pass this important resolution co-authored by @aaupmason.bsky.social
Thankful to my fellow Senators who took a stand to pass this important resolution co-authored by @aaupmason.bsky.social
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
Institutions of higher ed should be free from political interference. I applaud GMU's faculty for standing up against this admin's campaign to coerce blind loyalty which undermines the ability to teach, research and best serve students. @aaupmason.bsky.social
www.highereddive.com/news/george-...
www.highereddive.com/news/george-...
George Mason faculty urge leaders to reject Trump deals risking ‘institutional autonomy’
A Wednesday resolution from the faculty senate argued that the university's board and president should not put it under "continuing federal supervision.”
www.highereddive.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Institutions of higher ed should be free from political interference. I applaud GMU's faculty for standing up against this admin's campaign to coerce blind loyalty which undermines the ability to teach, research and best serve students. @aaupmason.bsky.social
www.highereddive.com/news/george-...
www.highereddive.com/news/george-...
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
“An instructor's freedom to teach includes the right to assess student academic performance. We are gravely concerned that a climate of escalating authoritarian assaults on academic freedom is normalizing politicized interference in classroom teaching & learning.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Oklahoma college student’s failing grade on gender essay dropped amid outcry
A University of Oklahoma student alleged religious discrimination after receiving a zero on an essay that rejected the concept of multiple genders.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:05 AM
“An instructor's freedom to teach includes the right to assess student academic performance. We are gravely concerned that a climate of escalating authoritarian assaults on academic freedom is normalizing politicized interference in classroom teaching & learning.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
Billionaires, who quite often do not see education as a common good, should not be guiding higher education policy.
“I kind of yearn,” Mr. Nassirian said, “for the gilded age when billionaires satisfied their extracurricular interests by collecting Fabergé eggs and prized ponies.”
#DefendHigherEd
“I kind of yearn,” Mr. Nassirian said, “for the gilded age when billionaires satisfied their extracurricular interests by collecting Fabergé eggs and prized ponies.”
#DefendHigherEd
Wealthy People Have Always Shaped Universities. This Time Is Different.
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Billionaires, who quite often do not see education as a common good, should not be guiding higher education policy.
“I kind of yearn,” Mr. Nassirian said, “for the gilded age when billionaires satisfied their extracurricular interests by collecting Fabergé eggs and prized ponies.”
#DefendHigherEd
“I kind of yearn,” Mr. Nassirian said, “for the gilded age when billionaires satisfied their extracurricular interests by collecting Fabergé eggs and prized ponies.”
#DefendHigherEd
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
“If there is a message to be heeded in the legislative assault on governance bodies, it is that the enemies of higher education, nonetheless, still fear faculty authority. Why else would they be so insistent on silencing faculty members?”
#DefendHigherEd
#DefendHigherEd
November 19, 2025 at 6:46 PM
“If there is a message to be heeded in the legislative assault on governance bodies, it is that the enemies of higher education, nonetheless, still fear faculty authority. Why else would they be so insistent on silencing faculty members?”
#DefendHigherEd
#DefendHigherEd
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
This is a win for us all!! ✊👏🎉
WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)
![On official UC letterhead:
UNIVERSITY
OF
CALIFORNIA
James B. Milliken President
Office of the President
1111 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94607
universityofcalifornia.edu
CAMPUSES Berkeley
Davis
Irvine
UCLA
Merced
Riverside San Diego San Francisco
Santa Barbara Santa Cruz
MEDICAL CENTERS
Davis
Irvine
UCLA
San Diego
San Francisco
NATIONAL LABORATORIES Lawrence Berkeley Lawrence Livermore Los Alamos
DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
November 18, 2025
Dear Chancellors:
I'm writing with regard to the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) and the program's associated faculty hiring incentive.
As you know, for more than 40 years, PPFP has provided postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service advance the academic and research missions of the University of California.
Since 2003, UC campuses that hire current and former PPFP fellows into ladder-rank positions have been eligible for a hiring incentive funded by the University that provides support for newly hired fellows for five years. Since the creation of the incentive, more than $162 million has been invested by the University to support PPFP faculty hires. This commitment has enabled our campuses to successfully recruit and retain outstanding faculty across a range of disciplines.
Given the myriad challenges currently facing UC - including disruptions to billions of dollars in annual federal support, as well as uncertainty around the state budget- reasonable questions were raised in recent months about whether the University could maintain the commitment to current levels of incentive funding. After considering a recommendation to sunset the incentive program due to these significant fiscal constraints, I consulted with all of you as well as faculty and campus academic administrators and systemwide Academic Senate leadership.
[continued on next image]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rzn6yramffebefeitqifiqqz/bafkreigiwq5ongzwpj4wqmgjam3yfvhyjnv5e3dbq6cnrrbwblqvs624gq@jpeg)
November 18, 2025 at 11:04 PM
This is a win for us all!! ✊👏🎉
👏👏👏
November 19, 2025 at 2:17 PM
👏👏👏
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
destruction comes for The New School
"The university's cycles of austerity+consolidation, betray a pattern where we are all being asked to work more for less, and at the expense of students and workers. We must stand together."
docs.google.com/document/u/2...
"The university's cycles of austerity+consolidation, betray a pattern where we are all being asked to work more for less, and at the expense of students and workers. We must stand together."
docs.google.com/document/u/2...
Statement on the President's Announcement of Austerity Measures
November 18, 2025 Dear Colleagues, We are writing with deep dismay over yesterday’s announcement of austerity measures made without meaningful, representative consultation with faculty, staff, or stud...
docs.google.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
destruction comes for The New School
"The university's cycles of austerity+consolidation, betray a pattern where we are all being asked to work more for less, and at the expense of students and workers. We must stand together."
docs.google.com/document/u/2...
"The university's cycles of austerity+consolidation, betray a pattern where we are all being asked to work more for less, and at the expense of students and workers. We must stand together."
docs.google.com/document/u/2...
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
The abolishment of the Department of Education & the continued reckless defunding of public education is a clear path to setting America back in technology, innovation, & competitiveness. Congress can & must stand up for the American people & stop the destruction of our federal education system.
Trump Administration Announces Steps to Dismantle Education Department
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:27 PM
The abolishment of the Department of Education & the continued reckless defunding of public education is a clear path to setting America back in technology, innovation, & competitiveness. Congress can & must stand up for the American people & stop the destruction of our federal education system.
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
"This represents saving higher education, saving public research and the standing up of faculty, staff and students,"
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
Judge Orders Trump Not to Threaten University of California’s Funding
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
"This represents saving higher education, saving public research and the standing up of faculty, staff and students,"
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
WE WON!!!
The US District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction in AAUP et al v. Trump et al (the wall to wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of Title VI to reshape the University of California system.
Read the order here:
The US District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction in AAUP et al v. Trump et al (the wall to wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of Title VI to reshape the University of California system.
Read the order here:
democracyforward.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:21 AM
WE WON!!!
The US District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction in AAUP et al v. Trump et al (the wall to wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of Title VI to reshape the University of California system.
Read the order here:
The US District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction in AAUP et al v. Trump et al (the wall to wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of Title VI to reshape the University of California system.
Read the order here:
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
““The notion that politicians or high-level administrators can dictate what can be taught, researched, discussed or debated in a college classroom is fundamentally at odds with what higher education is about."
- Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
@aft.org
- Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
@aft.org
AFT’s Weingarten and AAUP’s Wolfson on Texas A&M University System Board of Regents’ Vote to Censor Curriculum
COLLEGE STATION, Texas—AFT President Randi Weingarten and American Association of University Professors President Todd Wolfson issued the following statement condemning the Texas A&M University…
www.aft.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:25 AM
““The notion that politicians or high-level administrators can dictate what can be taught, researched, discussed or debated in a college classroom is fundamentally at odds with what higher education is about."
- Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
@aft.org
- Todd Wolfson, AAUP President
@aft.org
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
"If anything, the response by university leaders may have brought to the fore what some of us suspected all along: Academic freedom is being eroded internally by university administrators & externally by politicians."
— Laura Isabel Serna, President of University of Southern California AAUP
— Laura Isabel Serna, President of University of Southern California AAUP
Commentary: Fearing Trump, universities themselves restrict academic freedom
Seven out of the nine universities that the Trump administration invited to offer feedback on the so...
www.macon.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:11 PM
"If anything, the response by university leaders may have brought to the fore what some of us suspected all along: Academic freedom is being eroded internally by university administrators & externally by politicians."
— Laura Isabel Serna, President of University of Southern California AAUP
— Laura Isabel Serna, President of University of Southern California AAUP
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
The ICE raids in Chicago harm students’ ability to learn and the faculty’s ability to teach at Hispanic-serving institutions like the University of Illinois - Chicago.
Aaron Krall, President of University of Illinois Chicago Faculty United, discusses this & more in our recent AAUP TV episode.
Aaron Krall, President of University of Illinois Chicago Faculty United, discusses this & more in our recent AAUP TV episode.
November 9, 2025 at 5:54 PM
The ICE raids in Chicago harm students’ ability to learn and the faculty’s ability to teach at Hispanic-serving institutions like the University of Illinois - Chicago.
Aaron Krall, President of University of Illinois Chicago Faculty United, discusses this & more in our recent AAUP TV episode.
Aaron Krall, President of University of Illinois Chicago Faculty United, discusses this & more in our recent AAUP TV episode.
“The Committee’s unfounded accusations, dependence on clearly compromised sources, and selective presentation of ‘evidence’ represent an unprecedented abuse of congressional power—designed not to find the truth, but to silence leadership that refuses to yield to political pressure.”
— GMU-AAUP
— GMU-AAUP
Congress Accuses GMU President of Lying About DEI Efforts
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee accused George Mason University's president of lying about DEI practices and likely violating civil rights laws. He has denied the claims.
www.insidehighered.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:48 PM
“The Committee’s unfounded accusations, dependence on clearly compromised sources, and selective presentation of ‘evidence’ represent an unprecedented abuse of congressional power—designed not to find the truth, but to silence leadership that refuses to yield to political pressure.”
— GMU-AAUP
— GMU-AAUP
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
Happening Now: 100+ people rally outside of Apollo Management Group headquartered in NYC to protest its CEO Marc Rowan, the conservative billionaire behind Trump's Higher Ed compact deal that undermines universities ‼️
November 7, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Happening Now: 100+ people rally outside of Apollo Management Group headquartered in NYC to protest its CEO Marc Rowan, the conservative billionaire behind Trump's Higher Ed compact deal that undermines universities ‼️
Reposted by GMU-AAUP
Higher education workers are out here in NYC at billionaire Marc Rowan's office to say: Hands Off Higher Education!
Rowan is an architect of Trump's loyalty oath compact & the assault on higher ed today.
The university belongs to the students, faculty & staff—not to the billionaires!
@aft.org
Rowan is an architect of Trump's loyalty oath compact & the assault on higher ed today.
The university belongs to the students, faculty & staff—not to the billionaires!
@aft.org
We need teachers, we need books, we need the money the billionaires took! Come out NYC!
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Higher education workers are out here in NYC at billionaire Marc Rowan's office to say: Hands Off Higher Education!
Rowan is an architect of Trump's loyalty oath compact & the assault on higher ed today.
The university belongs to the students, faculty & staff—not to the billionaires!
@aft.org
Rowan is an architect of Trump's loyalty oath compact & the assault on higher ed today.
The university belongs to the students, faculty & staff—not to the billionaires!
@aft.org