Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, 10:00-11:30am CT, on Zoom.

Officers:  Karma Chavez, Brian Evans, Andrea Gore, Lauren Gutterman, Steven Seegel, and Polly Strong (President) strongpolly@gmail.com.

Free inquiry, free expression, intellectual exploration, and open dissent are critical for student learning and the advancement of knowledge. Academic freedom is the freedom from institutional censorship of the instructional staff ‘s teaching, research, and expression.  Academic freedom allows instructional staff to develop and disseminate new knowledge from all viewpoints, including conservative, moderate, liberal, and apolitical.  Safeguards include shared governance, tenure and due process.

About AAUP

We champion academic freedom, advance shared governance, and organize all faculty to promote economic security and quality education.  If you’re not already a member, please join AAUP – here are several reasons. Please follow us on X @aaup_utAustin and @TexasAaup.

Announcements

• Join us for our Austin-area AAUP-AFT social gathering of academic freedom enthusiasts on the third Thursday of the month at 5pm at Tweedy’s Bar at 2908 Fruth St. near the UT campus. Bring a colleague.
• The Texas AAUP-AFT Conference Spring 2025 Meeting will be Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, 9am to 1pm in Austin, Texas, and on Zoom.

Agenda & Slides

• Chapter leadership
• Chapter activities (see below)
• 2025 Legislative session (see below)
• Discussion of member concerns
• Volunteer for activities
• Slides

Chapter Activities in 2024

• Monitored implementation of SB 17 & SB 18. Met with Provost & VP for Legal Affairs to express concerns about over-implementation. Publicized carve-outs for teaching & research. 
• Educated administrators & faculty on academic freedom & shared governance, including at Dean’s Council meeting (slides).
• Advocated for academic freedom & due process for students. 
• Protested mass firings of former DEI staff & militarized police response to student protests. Organized letter of no-confidence in President Hartzell that garnered over 600 signatures; worked with Faculty Council members to bring a resolution to Faculty Council.
• Testified at Higher Education Subcommittee hearing on the implementation of SB 17, the Governor’s Executive Order on antisemitism & free speech (May)
• Facilitated and publicized AAUP survey of faculty in Texas & other Southern states (August)
• Opposed lack of due process in non-renewal of College of Liberal Arts Dean Ann Stevens’ contract
• Testified on interim legislative charges: shared governance, so-called “discriminatory” curricula (November)
• Participated as individuals in consultative search committee for the Dean of the School of Civic Leadership
• Participated in 2024 Texas AAUP Conference and Biennial Meeting; Texas AAUP-AFT Spring & Fall meetings (February & September 2024)
• Collaborated with multiple educational, advocacy, worker and student organizations in Texas and beyond
• Grew our membership through outreach and monthly socials
• Educated public through op-eds, conference presentations, and social media @aaup_utAustin and @TexasAaup

In the News

• “Restrictions on tenure and academic freedom have college professors eyeing the exits”, Matt Krupnick, USA Today. Dec. 19, 2023; updated Jan. 7, 2024. Feature on UT Austin AAUP Officer Karma Chavez.
• “In DEI Purge, Who’s UT Coming After Next?”, Jim Kuhn, The Austin Chronicle, May 3, 2024. Jim Kuhn is a UT Austin AAUP member.
• “Fighting UT Austin’s Crackdowns on Protests and DEI“, Karma Chavez and Lauren Gutterman, Academe Blog, Oct. 11, 2024. Authors are UT Austin AAUP officers.
• “UT is Becoming the Face of Higher Ed Failures. That must change.“, Editorial, The Daily Texan, Oct. 11, 2024. Several UT Austin AAUP officers interviewed.
• “The Right-Wingification of UT. Texas targets liberal enemies within one of the top U.S. schools“, Brant Bingamon, Austin Chronicle, Nov. 22, 2024. Several UT Austin AAUP officers interviewed.
• “Monopoly Tycoons in a Game of Jenga: The Censorship of Bodies, Protest, and Speech at UT-Austin“, Angela Valenzuela, Opinion Piece, Texas Observer, Dec. 21, 2024. Angela Valenzuela is a UT Austin AAUP member.
• “One year under SB 17: A timeline of how Texas’ anti-DEI law swept through UT, the state”, Lily Kepner, Austin American-Statesman, Jan. 1, 2025. Article mentions the UT Austin AAUP letter of no-confidence in President Hartzell that garnered over 600 signatures.

2025 Legislative Session

• Session is from January 14, 2025, to June 2, 2025, with bill filing having started November 11, 2024
• Texas Senate Legislative Priorities for Higher Education including restricting academic freedom, shared governance, and free speech on college and university campuses
• Deeper attacks on academic freedom and its safeguards of tenure, due process, and shared governance than the last session.
• Bills expected to censor certain course topics and content, strip faculty oversight of curriculum, and regulate faculty senates into irrelevance
• Bills expected to empower Boards of Regents to directly appoint all department chairs and remove shared governance and academic freedom as criteria for university and college accreditation
• Bills expected to remove or defund cultural, ethnic, and gender studies across a wide variety of disciplines including Liberal Arts, Social Work, Business, and Medicine.