For all faculty of all institution types and locations, future faculty, and those interested in the study of academic freedom and the role of higher education in a democracy:
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the Virginia Conference of the American Association of University Professors (VA-AAUP), we write to invite you to an important statewide event — a Faculty Know Your Rights Webinar — on October 4th from 3:00PM – 4:30PM (co-sponsored by the GMU-AAUP). We have invited legal scholars and lawyers from the AAUP, the ACLU of VA, and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) to discuss the laws and legal precedents that protect our academic freedom, how we can organize as faculty to fight state censorship, and protect the quality of education across the Commonwealth. Panelists will also discuss the funding sources that are available should faculty find themselves targeted or censored by administrators and in need of legal aid. Please register today and share this message with your colleagues and students!
These dubious times require that we know our rights and take action to protect them. If you have not yet joined the AAUP, now is the time to dig in. There is too much at stake! Join us as we organize and build faculty power across Virginia, chapter by chapter. And nationally, the AAUP has just affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), creating a very powerful Higher Education Alliance.
Please share this announcement with fellow faculty and students, join us on October 4th for a primer on Faculty Rights, and join the AAUP!
In Solidarity,
Bethany Letiecq, PhD
President, VA-AAUP
Vice-President, GMU-AAUP
Associate Professor
George Mason University
Everett Carpenter, PhD MBA
President-elect VA-AAUP
President, VCU-AAUP
Professor
Virginia Commonwealth University
For more information about the webinar: https://aaupmason.org/events/
For more information about the VA Conference: https://aaupva.umwblogs.org/
For more information about the AAUP/AFT affiliation: https://www.aaup.org/faqs-aaupaft-affiliation