The Executive Council of Rutgers AAUP-AFT expresses its deep concern about the climate of fear and suppression on Rutgers campuses, and we call upon the Rutgers administration to return to its historical defense of academic freedom and freedom of expression. We condemn the Rutgers administration’s infringement on student groups, such as the recent suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), without due process. The suspension of SJP arbitrarily silences the voices of many students and is redolent of the McCarthyism of the 20th century. Such targeted actions undermine the values of academic freedom and inclusion that are foundational to our diverse community at Rutgers. We recognize that there are highly varied viewpoints on political issues on our campuses, and we affirm the right of all involved to robustly—even vehemently—express their views, even when those views upset others.
The Rutgers administration’s targeting of a student group does not occur in a vacuum. It comes on the heels of the suspension of SJP at other universities in the United States, such as Columbia University and George Washington University. It occurs within a wider national atmosphere of political interference in university governance, administrations disenfranchising students, and a surge of hate crimes on and off American college campuses. It also unfolds amid New Jersey politicians and Rutgers donors publicly attempting to exert control over events on campus, especially to shut down speech. Despite all of these external pressures, the wide diversity of backgrounds and perspectives among Rutgers students is foundational to our beloved community. The Rutgers administration has a long history of resisting pressures to censor and stifle faculty, and we demand the same support for academic freedom for students as they engage in crucial contemporary debates.
As stewards of a public university, the Rutgers administration is uniquely obligated to uphold academic freedom and freedom of speech. At a time when the US population is deeply divided over the conflict in Gaza, the administration should not take sides by censoring groups that the administration does not like. The university is precisely the site where robust debates should be carried out, not stifled. We call upon the administration to uphold these principles in the following ways:
- Immediately reverse course, reinstate Students for Justice in Palestine, and reaffirm the university’s commitment to freedom of expression.
- Protect the freedom of students to express their positions on such issues on and off campus. As the AAUP’s Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students puts it, “Students should be free to organize and join associations to promote their common interests, and students and student organizations should be free to examine and discuss all questions of interest to them and to express opinions publicly and privately.”
- Commit to fully protecting the academic freedom of their faculties to teach, conduct research, and speak out about important issues both on and off campus, as called for by the AAUP in Academic Freedom in Times of War.
- Safeguard the independence of colleges and universities by refusing to comply with demands from politicians, trustees, donors, faculty members, students, alumni, or other parties that would interfere with academic freedom.