United, we can defend academic freedom in Oregon!

As you have undoubtedly seen, legislative attacks on higher education are at an all-time high. Rather than address the very real issues facing our nation, opportunistic politicians across the United States have instead chosen to lash out at our profession. One state has led the nation in this assault. Though it has not yet taken hold in Oregon, it is taking many forms across different states: undermining tenure protections, dictating what topics can be taught and researched, dismantling protections for our students, staff, and faculty, and installing partisan ideologues on institutional boards. This is not to mention the extra-legal routes extremists have taken to intimidate educators into silence. The purpose is clear: to root out the social and intellectual progress of the last sixty years and salt the earth so that such progress can never take root again.

It is easy to believe that these are problems that could never make their way to Oregon; it would be a mistake to do so. The project to dismantle American higher education is well-funded, coordinated, and organized. One need only look at this PEN America spreadsheet tracking educational gag orders to see the level of coordination taking place across states to undermine our academic freedom. Bills put forth in Oregon this legislative session bear a striking resemblance to other pieces of legislation because of a strategic push by ideological reactionaries. Our efforts in coalition with other higher education labor and advocacy organizations in the Higher Education Coalition (AAUP, AFT, SEIU, OEA, and OSA) have ensured that these bills will not pass this legislative session.

Furthermore, the dysfunction of Washington, DC politics has also made its way here. In an attempt to impose extremist positions over the will of Oregon’s electorate, some state senators have once again decided to abandon their duties and grind business in Salem to a halt. By doing so, they hold hostage a host of important policy and budget bills to the detriment of every Oregonian, not just our university community.

Despite these national challenges, it is essential to remember that we have advantages and strengths here in Oregon that we must continue to leverage to protect our profession and the fundamental principles of academic freedom. 

Our collective bargaining chapters — Graduate Employees Union of PSU, Oregon Tech AAUP, PSU AAUP, United Academics of OSU, and United Academics of UO — have negotiated protections for tenure and academic freedom, and your chapter’s officers work diligently to both enforce these protections under our existing contracts and strengthen these articles when negotiations re-open. If it’s been a while since you’ve reviewed your chapter’s CBA, click the links above to take a look at what protections you already enjoy, thanks to our collective efforts. When your CBA opens for negotiations, take part in the process so that your chapter and your administration know that academic freedom is a priority for you.

In Salem, your state affiliate at AAUP works with your chapters to connect our members’ priorities to our legislators. Thanks to the relationships we have developed in Salem, we can educate legislators on the needs of our profession and the impacts that potential legislation could have on students, staff, and faculty. Oregon’s legislators know that they will hear from unions, such as ours, whenever legislation that threatens working conditions arises, and our collective voice has the power to move them. 

But your voice as an individual constituent also matters. If you are concerned about the current direction of Oregon politics, let your legislator know. In particular, if you are in a district where your legislator has chosen to forgo their responsibility to their constituents, consider using this tool to send them a message to get back to work.

Each of us has a role to play in the defense of academic freedom and higher education in our state and nation. We can not afford to sit silently and hope that someone else will stand up for us. We know the power that education has, and so it is time for us to start talking to the people in our social and professional circles about the clear threat to higher education. You don’t need to do this alone, either.  Work with your chapter’s officers and activists to help shape what the fight for academic freedom looks like on your campus. If you are unsure how to contact your chapter’s officers, please respond to this email, and we will connect you to them.

One point is clear: we need to know where our administrators and legislators stand on this issue. If our leaders can’t commit to defending our rights, then we must use our collective voice so that they hear our demands. This issue affects the entire university community, so we must work in coalition with other on-campus and community groups to build a vocal movement to defend our rights. PEN America and the American Council on Education have created a useful toolkit to help your chapter or university community coalition engage and educate others and grow your collective power.

The battle for the soul of American education is by no means lost. At the state and national levels, your AAUP affiliates are here to support you and defend academic freedom, shared governance, and tenure protections. Through our collective efforts, we can re-assert our right to academic freedom and move the conversation back to the real issues that need to be resolved regarding higher education in America: rising tuition, falling wages, and the student-debt crisis.

In solidarity,

David Luebke, AAUP Oregon’s outgoing VP of Academic Freedom

Ron Mize, AAUP Oregon’s incoming VP of Academic Freedom