(April 10, 2024)

A statement of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT Executive Council and Academic Freedom Committee and the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union Executive Board and Academic Freedom Committee

Since late 2023, Rutgers University has been the target of repeated attacks on academic freedom, including pressure from elected officials to limit the speech and activities of professors, students, academic centers, and departments at Rutgers. These attacks claim to be focused on antisemitism, but in fact they aim at a broad sweep of expression, seeking to stifle the free exchange of ideas that is at the core of Rutgers’ educational mission as the premier public university of New Jersey. To protect Rutgers’ academic mission, we speak out against attempts to infringe on free speech, research, teaching, and writing. We call on the Rutgers administration to do likewise and robustly defend our institution and targeted members of the Rutgers community.