We have all witnessed the heart-breaking images documenting the slaughter of innocent civilians in Putin’s war against freedom in Ukraine. As we hear the bombs explode and see the sadness in the faces of the afflicted, we wish we could do something to stop it. In our despair, we reach for our credit cards in hopes that our donations to relief agencies will help mitigate the suffering of these innocent people. Short of boarding a plane and taking up arms against the invaders, providing financial support is about all most of us can do.
As a group of faculty members in a remote portion of America, we are far removed from the unfathomable physical and emotional trauma we view on our screens. However, we can learn a lot from the Ukrainians as we witness the first salvos of an ideological war that has been launched here at home against academic freedom.
Last October, the University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted to make it possible to fire tenured faculty members without affording them a dismissal hearing. On March 5, the Governing Council of the AAUP voted to censure the USG for removing protections for academic freedom for nearly 6,000 tenured faculty members across the state and called upon the USG regents to rescind changes to their post-tenure review policy.
In February, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick pledged to dismantle academic tenure during a press conference on February 18. “What we will propose to do is end tenure, all tenure for all new hires,” For currently tenured professors, he said, “the law will change to say teaching critical race theory is prima facie evidence of good cause for tenure revocation.”
Most of this war about teaching Critical Race Theory is currently being fought in the predictable states like Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. However, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a similar ban on November 3, 2021. Fortunately, it was not signed into law. This battle is not just about CRT, it is about the encroachment of the government on free speech of all kinds including academic freedom.
While this fight may seem trivial compared to what our friends in Ukraine are facing right now, the fate of our First Amendment rights and academic freedom in Michigan may very well rest on what happens in the 2022 elections. Considering this, I hope we can draw inspiration from our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. Their level of sacrifice should challenge us to get involved with campaigns supporting our values as faculty members and union members. Having witnessed the Ukrainians’ abundant courage, we can certainly do something as benign as knocking on doors and giving our money to help elect people who will push back against those who desire to remove First Amendment and academic freedoms.
The governor’s race in particular will not only have implications for academic freedom, it directly impacts who sits on the NMU Board of Trustees. Having the candidate of our choosing in that office is of critical importance. This is our fight. And like the Ukrainians, we can’t count on anyone else to fight it for us.
Dwight Brady, President, NMU-AAUP