A new AAUP report published today concludes the admin of @HamlineU violated the #academicfreedom of Professor Erika López Prater after a student complaint on the presentation of images of the Prophet Muhammad during an online art history class.
twincities.com/2023/05/22/rep…
🧵
The AAUP’s committee of inquiry found that Professor López Prater’s decision to display the historical images was not only justifiable & appropriate on both scholarly & pedagogical grounds but also protected by #academicfreedom.

2/
2 weeks prior to the class meeting in question, the department chair asked Professor López Prater about teaching a course in the spring '23 semester, writing “My students in your class have said nothing but wonderful things, so we would really love to have you back..."

3/
2 weeks after the class meeting & subsequent complaint, the chair wrote her stating, “As a department we need to make a spring semester change & will no longer be able to offer the contemporary art history class online as we had previously discussed.”

4/
In November 2022, Hamline’s vice president for inclusive excellence emailed all university employees calling Professor López Prater’s presentation of the images “undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful, & Islamophobic.”

5/
4 days later, in an interview w/ the student newspaper, he stated, “In [view] of this incident, it was decided it was best that this faculty member was no longer part of the @HamlineU community.” At that time, Professor López Prater was still teaching.

6/
The AAUP’s report states that circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that Hamline admin rescinded the informal offer to assign Professor López Prater another art history course in spring 2023 solely because she had displayed the images, thus violating her #academicfreedom.

7/
The AAUP report concludes that neither admin nor López Prater’s department chair provided a legitimate academic rationale for declining to offer her any further teaching assignments. Admin also failed to initiate any formal or substantial investigation of the complaint.

8/
The AAUP recommends that the BOT formally endorse the principles articulated in the Hamline faculty resolution. We continue to closely monitor developments at Hamline - among the most welcome of which would be a renewed offer of teaching appointment to Professor López Prater.
9/
The AAUP's full report on Academic Freedom and Tenure @HamlineU can be found here:

aaup.org/report/academi…

10/10

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More from @AAUP

May 24
🚨 🚨 🚨
On the day FL governor DeSantis is to announce his bid for president, the AAUP has released a preliminary report on the impact of his unparalleled ideologically driven assault on higher education in the state.
🧵
In January, after a number of alarming events in Florida, the AAUP established a special committee to review the apparent pattern of politically, racially, & ideologically motivated attacks on public higher education in the state.

aaup.org/news/special-c…

2/
After interviewing dozens of faculty members at multiple public colleges & universities in the state, our preliminary report concludes that #academicfreedom, tenure, & shared governance in FL’s public higher ed system are indeed under attack.

aaup.org/news/florida-h…

3/
Read 10 tweets
Jan 31
BREAKING: Ron DeSantis just held a press conference in Sarasota, Florida w/ Christopher Rufo, the engineer of the right wing panic over #criticalracetheory & newly appointed Trustee at @NewCollegeofFL...
#DEI
#HigherEdReform
#AcademicTwitter
#AcademicChatter
🧵
1/
DeSantis claims that "the dominant view of higher ed is to impose ideological conformity & political activism" rather than providing a foundation for students to think for themselves.

DeSantis: dominant view is manifested in #DEI & #CRT & constitute a drain on resources...
2/
DeSantis claims:
-requiring diversity statements is akin to taking a political oath.
-Professors that vow to treat everyone the same are punished.
-a lot of money is spent on #DEI in higher ed despite schools reporting less than 1% of budget spent on diversity initiatives.
3/
Read 8 tweets
Jan 9
As #DeSantisDestroysFlorida is trending (again), it behooves us to chronicle the many ways higher education in the state is under attack.

1: In 2021 @UF barred 3 professors from serving as expert witnesses in a voting rights case against the state ...
aaup.org/news/universit…
@UF The case targeted legislation strongly supported by DeSantis that inhibited access to the ballot. After the university's accreditor announced an investigation, UF reversed their decision & allowed the professors to testify.
npr.org/2021/11/05/105…
When the attempt to use the power & pressure of the state to silence scholars w/ expertise failed, a new plan was hatched: change accreditors.
“These accreditation agencies have an inordinate amount of power to shape these universities,” DeSantis said.
🧐
insidehighered.com/news/2022/12/1…
Read 11 tweets
Oct 19, 2022
BREAKING: The AAUP has authorized an investigation into the extraordinary summary dismissal of 33 faculty members at @emporiastate, most of them long-serving professors with tenure.
🧵
1/
aaup.org/media-release/…
These termination decisions were apparently made w/out any meaningful faculty participation & w/out affording faculty members academic due process – both severe violations of widely accepted principles of #academicfreedom & tenure.
2/
As the AAUP wrote to the chair of the Kansas board of regents & the president of @emporiastate on 9/29, “It is difficult not to construe what has happened at ESU as a direct assault on tenure & #academicfreedom..."
aaup.org/sites/default/…
3/
Read 9 tweets
Aug 27, 2022
President Biden’s long awaited announcement of a plan to alleviate the student debt of roughly 20 million Americans has ignited a national debate about the fundamental role of higher education in our society.

The AAUP would like to weigh in...

🧵
1/
From the AAUP’s perspective, higher education exists to support the common good. An education should be accessible & affordable as a human right to anyone willing to seek it.
Biden’s action on student debt relief is a vital first forward…
2/
toward reaffirming the purpose & promise of higher education in our democracy. This transformative plan will go a long way toward narrowing the racial wealth gap exacerbated by the student debt crisis
3/
Read 11 tweets
Oct 27, 2021
In response to the announcement of AAUP’s investigation into @BORUSG’s removal of due process protections, the acting chancellor responded that “it will not be necessary for an investigation into the removal of due process as it clearly has not been removed.” 🤔
🧵
To clarify: the due process being referred to is the procedure the AAUP requires to dismiss a tenured faculty member. It consists essentially in an adjudicative hearing of record before an elected faculty body in which the burden of demonstrating… /2
…adequate cause for dismissal rests with admin. This academic due process is essential for tenure as the AAUP defines it: an indefinite appointment that can be terminated only for cause as demonstrated in such a hearing. /3
Read 8 tweets

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