Letter to the Editor: AAUP condemns assault on free speech, suggests caution
After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, faculty and students nationwide have been punished for exercising free speech on social media. The Executive Committee of the SU Chapter of the AAUP condemns these actions “in the strongest terms.” Cassie Roshu | Senior Staff Photographer
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To the campus community,
In the wake of the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, we’ve seen faculty and students across the nation punished for exercising their rights to free speech on social media. The Executive Committee of the Syracuse University Chapter of the AAUP condemns these actions in the strongest terms.
Such unilateral and swift actions curtailing these rights appear as prime examples of university administrations across the country siding with authoritarianism rather than defending the free inquiry and speech necessary to university cultures specifically and open, democratic societies more generally.
As the national AAUP statement describes, it’s up to university leadership to “ensure that the freedom to discuss topics of public import without constraint is not curtailed under political pressure.”
Right now at Syracuse University, some faculty have come under fire for their social media comments on Charlie Kirk’s killing, and we deplore this in the strongest terms as well. We absolutely affirm the right of faculty to make comments on social media that are protected by the First Amendment without punishment by university administrators.
An AAUP statement warning against stringent campus ‘free speech codes’ makes a crucial point: “Free speech is not simply an aspect of the educational enterprise to be weighed against other desirable ends. It is the very precondition of the academic enterprise itself.”
While academic freedom does recognize some constraints on faculty speech in the classroom, this isn’t the case with extra-mural speech, where the greatest freedom provided by the Constitution is assumed.
At the same time, however, it’s also worth exercising caution at a time when academics are facing increased harassment and concerted targeting. AAUP recently offered specific guidance for faculty on this front. In the volatility of the current situation, it’s important for faculty to keep in mind that our speech – particularly on social media – can give rise to unintended consequences and pose risks we’d never dreamed possible prior to the current climate of widespread assault on universities.
Let us be clear, however: while we believe caution by faculty is in order, AAUP decries any attempt by administrators to punish faculty for comments on social media, and sees universities, along with journalism, as crucial bulwarks against the assaults on free speech so prevalent today.
This letter was submitted by the Syracuse University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (SU AAUP) Executive Committee:
Crystal Bartolovich – President
Tony Scott – Vice President
Diane Grimes – Treasurer
Matthew Mulvaney – Secretary
Rusty Bartels– Non-TT Faculty Representative
Eileen Schell – Member at Large
Matt Huber – Past President
