Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, and Shared Governance

American Association of University Professors  July 23, 2026 1 min read

Extorted Compliance: A Threat to Institutional Autonomy, Academic Freedom, and Shared Governance

American Association of University Professors 

Higher education in the United States and the faculty members central to its mission are under unprecedented, destructive, and sustained attack, part of a larger assault on democratic governance, civil society, and knowledge itself. 

The attack, accelerating over the past decade, has assumed differing forms in varied arenas: Members of Congress grill and intimidate university leaders; state governments impose restrictive controls over curricula and institutional governance; feckless trustees and entitled donors brazenly abuse their authority; efforts to abolish or weaken tenure and faculty governance gain traction; international faculty members and students face deportation for expressing disfavored opinions.

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