On June 16, 2021, the Association of American Colleges and Universities, American Association of University Professors, American Historical Association, and PEN America released a joint statement signed by more than associations and organizations condemning legislative efforts that would restrict academic freedom by limiting discussions of racism and related issues in schools and universities across the United States.
The statement “state[s] our firm opposition to a spate of legislative proposals being introduced across the country that… risk infringing on the right of faculty to teach and of students to learn.” The statement concludes, “A white-washed view of history cannot change what happened in the past. A free and open society depends on the unrestricted pursuit and dissemination of knowledge.”
C-RAC members applaud these organizations for developing this joint statement and wholly endorse the effort to uphold academic freedom not only in postsecondary education, but throughout the nation’s education system.
View the joint statement in full here.