Academic Freedom and the Death of Charlie Kirk

The AAUP notes with great alarm the rash of recent administrative actions to discipline faculty, staff, and student speech in the aftermath of the murder of Charlie Kirk. We write to remind leaders of colleges and universities of their fundamental duty to protect academic freedom and the absolute necessity to ensure that the freedom to discuss topics of public import without constraint is not curtailed under political pressure. As established in the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, faculty are entitled to hearings under long-standing principles before they may be subject to discipline. At a moment when higher education is threatened by forces that seek to destroy it and its role in a democratic society, the anticipatory obedience shown by this rush to judgment must be avoided.