Harvard Grad Union Requests Academic Freedom Protections in New Contract Proposal

August 24, 2025 1 min read

Amann S. Mahajan
Harvard Crimson 

Excerpt: Harvard’s graduate student union requested that the University guarantee academic freedom protections for graduate students’ teaching and research pursuits in a new contract proposal on Thursday, joining a growing roster of graduate unions that have requested similar provisions in recent years.

The proposal, presented during a bargaining session with University negotiators, would establish a definition of academic freedom for graduate students in their work as teaching and research assistants. It would also nod toward broader free speech protections, codifying student workers’ right to “express themselves peacefully as members of society or as representatives of their fields of instruction, study, or research.”

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