Hundreds of Professors Unveil ‘Academic Freedom Alliance’ to Promote Free Speech on Campus

Hundreds of professors have launched a nonprofit called the “Academic Freedom Alliance” (AFA) to promote the First Amendment on college campuses. Members of the group range ideologically from conservative to left-wing.

The Academic Freedom Alliance describes itself as a group of “college and university faculty members who are dedicated to upholding the principle of academic freedom,” adding that its members are “from across the political spectrum,” and “recognize that an attack on academic freedom anywhere is an attack on academic freedom everywhere.”

The AFA says that it will commit to two methods of protecting academic freedom. First, the group says it will “defend faculty members’ freedom of thought and expression in their work as researchers and writers or in their lives as citizens.”

“Second, the AFA will aid in providing legal support to faculty whose academic freedom is threatened by institutions’ or officials’ violations of constitutional, statutory, contractual, or school-based rights,” the group adds.

“The AFA seeks to counteract pressures on employers to take actions against employees whose views, statements, or teachings they may disapprove or dislike,” the alliance affirms.

“Recognizing the array of political viewpoints in a college or university that respects academic freedom, the AFA’s defense of faculty members’ academic freedom does not depend on viewpoint, nor does it endorse the content of what they express. What we defend is members’ right of expression,” the group adds.

Members of the group “pledge to support fellow AFA members whose rights have been violated or are threatened.” The AFA says it will also provide “support for legal aid to individual members whose contractual or constitutional rights are being violated.”

The ideological views of members range from Princeton University professor Robert P. George — who is considered one of the leading conservative intellectuals in the U.S. — to left-wing Harvard University professor Cornel West.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, on Parler @alana, and on Instagram.