Here is a running list of case summaries & updates on each of the lawsuits the AAUP has filed since January, 2025:

AAUP Litigation

aaup.org

You don’t say.

Dan Silverman@dmsilverman.bsky.social · 2w ago

New study shows that — contra widely accepted narratives — there is NO EVIDENCE that professors change their students’ politics and make them more liberal through their teaching

“Universities have an obligation to engage with policymakers, including administrations they disagree with. The challenge is ensuring that engagement protects higher education rather than normalizes political interference in it.” — Todd Wolfson, AAUP President

McMahon’s Call To Action Raises Questions About University Independence

Linda McMahon's "National Call to Action" asks colleges to state their commitments to rigorous teaching, pathbreaking research, adn national service.

forbes.com

Trump’s Compact 2.0 announced by Linda McMahon this week should be placed in the context of their failed 2025 “loyalty oath” compact that was defeated by students & faculty at every institution they offered it to. Organizing & collective pressure works. 1 🧵 www.aaup.org/issue/winter...

BOOM. The AAUP is suing Texas A&M University System over their censorship policy that prohibits faculty from discussing topics & viewpoints related to race, sexual orientation, & gender. www.aclutx.org/app/uploads/... 1

“Genuine intellectual diversity requires time for reflection, institutional independence, historical depth, ethical questioning, & the freedom to pursue research unconstrained by immediate market demands. These conditions cannot flourish where knowledge itself has become increasingly commodified.”

Higher Ed Can’t Be Neutral in an Age of Brutality. It Must Choose Democracy.

Contemporary proponents of “institutional neutrality” fail to grasp that universities have never been outside politics.

truthout.org

"Resistance has been, and will be, most effective—indeed, it may only be effective—when faculty members mobilize and take independent action." - Comprehensive report on threats to public higher education in the US by @aaup.org / @cuasa.ca @cautdefencefund.bsky.social @ocufa.bsky.social

AAUP@aaup.org · 4w ago

OUT TODAY, the AAUP just released the first comprehensive account of how the Trump administration has taken the same playbook it's used on law firms & foreign governments & turned it on American universities. US higher ed has, in effect, become a target of a massive extortion racket. 🧵

Bethany Letiecq—President of Virginia AAUP and George Mason AAUP member—on fighting and winning as pre-contract union members. Give them a follow to support Virginia AAUP-AFT's fight for collective bargaining rights: @aaupvirginia.bsky.social @aaupmason.bsky.social @aft.org @aaup.org

The White House didn’t weigh scientific merit or alleged noncompliance of grant terms when they cut billions in life-saving research, they just looked for words they didn’t like. Blue states were specifically targeted for defunding.

Sarah T Roberts, PhD@ubiquity75.xyz · 4w ago

A reminder that UC _faculty_ and Faculty Associations — not the universities themselves nor their administrators — are waging this battle in court, demonstrating great bravery and moral clarity.

Tenure exists to safeguard #academicfreedom, which is necessary for all who teach & conduct research in higher ed. When faculty members can lose positions because of their speech, publications, or research findings, they cannot properly fulfill their responsibilities to advance & transmit knowledge.

Texas Conference of the AAUP@texasaaup.bsky.social · 4w ago

UT Austin doubles down on denial of tenure to leading borderlands tech scholar: “In an emailed statement to Inside Higher Ed, a UT spokesperson said, ‘Tenure is privilege, not a right.’” www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

Faculty care about their disciplines and know what works in the classroom! A strong faculty union prioritizes labor *and* learning. Join @aaup.org if your U isn’t already a UnionU! 💪

Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa@benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social · last mo.

A really interesting piece on reducing AI cheating in the classroom from a Professor of English and former Dean of Humanities at University of Utah. The solutions? Smaller classes, lower teaching loads for faculty, and in-person classes.

Gutting our scientific research infrastructure is NOT in the best interest of the American people.

Ryan Quinn@ryanequinn.bsky.social · last mo.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality sent researchers letters this week saying they wouldn’t receive long-awaited funding continuations. The agency cited the “best interest of the federal government.” www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

“I’m suing because Northwestern did not try to press charges against me until facing pressure from the US government. When the House Committee smeared me on TV & sent letters chastising Northwestern during the Biden administration, suddenly my Palestine solidarity speech became a fireable offense.”

When We Fight, We Win: Why I Am Suing Northwestern University—and the US Government

Yesterday, I filed a lawsuit against Northwestern University and—in his official capacity as Chairman of the US House of Representatives House Committee on Education and the Workforce—Michigan Cong…

lithub.com

Ah, the freedom of choice in the marketplace of ideas… If you build a conservative think tank on campus & no students want to attend, just make a law forcing them to. 👀 #academicsky

Cirino wants university civic center classes to be mandatory

The new bill would broaden the authority of Ohio's controversial civics centers despite low enrollment so far.

axios.com

Remember this?

Today, the AAUP & Texas AAUP sued Texas Tech Chancellor Brandon Creighton over directives he gave that mandated the censorship & thought policing of thousands of faculty & students leading to the suppression of academic freedom & the pursuit of knowledge. More Here: www.aaup.org/news/aaup-te... 🧵

Are the many “Intellectual Freedom Centers” being placed on college campuses nationwide really just mandatory ideological indoctrination centers? 🤔 #AcademicSky

The new director of the Center for Intellectual Freedom at the U of Iowa (one of many right wing funded “intellectual diversity” centers popping up on campuses nationwide) will make up to $450K & have “sole & exclusive authority” over every hiring/firing decision at the center. 🤔 #academicsky

Annie Abrams@annieabrams.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Salary $200,000-$450,000

AAUP members came together @ the Higher Ed Summit & Biennial to approve a package of critical proposals that will serve as a sweeping strategic blueprint for our Union to build structural power & go on the offensive against the political & economic threats to higher ed in this moment. 🧵

We need collective bargaining in Virginia to fight for living wages, job protections, equity, and dignity on the job for all workers in higher education. @aaupmason.bsky.social @aaup.org vadogwood.com/news/politic...

As university workers struggle with low pay, Pence paid $150K by George Mason

The George Mason chapter of a faculty union obtained Pence’s compensation through a Freedom of Information Act request.

vadogwood.com

“Universities continue to push partnerships with AI companies—even as students themselves openly mock AI output & its makers as “clankers.” At graduations across the country students have booed CEOs & industry speakers who boost AI as the inevitable future, & jeered admin who use AI systems.”

Academe@academemagazine.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New on Academe Blog from @hellobrittparis.bsky.social of @ruaaup-aft.bsky.social:

“We have shown that when the government tries to turn fear into policy, the AAUP will answer with law, with organizing, with solidarity, & with the oldest commitment we have: the defense of academic freedom for the common good.” 💥💥💥

Veena Dubal@veenadubal.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Here are the notes from my @aaup.org Legal Update, delivered by the incredible @sbagen.bsky.social at the Biennial this last week! academeblog.org/2026/06/15/a...

“I want faculty to leave here recognizing that for us to transform our situation—whether it’s in our classrooms, in our departments, on our campuses, in our states or nationally—we have everything we need to do it. We can play a role in transforming our democracy.” — AAUP President Todd Wolfson

AAUP Readies for Bigger Political Fight

At the first biennial since President Donald Trump retook office, faculty members strategized about how to resist increasing political interference in their work and on their campuses.

insidehighered.com

That’s a Wrap! What a POWERFUL Higher Ed Summit this week in Chicago centering the work of building a strong movement to defend the quality & promise of higher ed & our democracy in this pivotal moment. LET’S GO! #AAUP2026 👊🏽👊🏿👊🏻👊🏼👊🏾

“If this kind of austerity can happen at The News School, it can happen everywhere. Faculty all over the country need to be on guard. We need strong labor unions.” — Jeremy Varon, New School AAUP President on @democracynow.org today. 👊🏾👊🏿👊🏼 @newschoolaaup.bsky.social @higheredlabor.bsky.social

Powerful plenary to start day 2 of the #AAUP2026 Higher Ed Summit on who controls the future: democratic institutions & workers or authoritarians & corporate power? 💥💥💥 w/ @democracynow.org’s Juan Gonzalez, Mohsen Mahdawi, @hellobrittparis.bsky.social, & @ncaaup.bsky.social’s @belleboggs.bsky.social

Exciting week ahead at the AAUP Higher Ed Summit in Chicago! 💥 👊🏽 🔥💥 👊🏼 📕 #AAUP2026

The AAUP Higher Ed Summit & Biennial in Chicago is in full effect! Let’s Go! 👊🏽👊🏼👊🏾👊🏻👊🏿 #AAUP2026

Today, the AAUP released the Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2025–26. It is sobering. Full-time faculty salaries are down about 0.4% in real, inflation-adjusted terms. Average full-time faculty salaries remain 9.5% below fall 2019 & about 5.8% below fall 2008. 1/

Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession Now Available

This year's Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession finds that faculty salaries are still losing ground to inflation and expands data collection on part-time faculty pay.

aaup.org

“Searches for presidents & other chief academic officers should have an open phase that allows individual faculty members as well as faculty bodies to review the credentials of finalists, ask questions, and share opinions before a final decision is made.” —AAUP Statement on Presidential Searches

Statement on Presidential Searches

AAUP 2015 Statement on Presidential Searches

aaup.org

Northwestern AAUP Chapter@nu-aaup.bsky.social · 3mo ago

dailynorthwestern.com/2026/05/29/l...