Statement Supporting Academic Freedom in Recent Cases of Faculty Employment
The following statement of endorsement was drafted by the MLA Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Rights and Responsibilities. The Executive Council approved it as an MLA statement in February 2023.
The Modern Language Association continues its unequivocal support of academic freedom as set forth in the American Association of University Professors’ 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. That foundational statement declares that teachers “are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject” as well as to "full freedom in research and in the publication of the results.” In addition, “they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline.” The erosion of academic freedom and shared governance in higher education, whether through personnel actions, legislative intervention in curriculum, or board fiats, undermines the foundational premises of education. Recent cases, such as the obstructed appointments of Erika López Prater at Hamline University and Kenneth Roth at Harvard University, highlight the need for adherence to the letter and spirit of academic freedom. Abrogation of that freedom, whether in hiring or firing, or whether in reference to contingent faculty members or distinguished fellows, imperils all faculty members, all students, and all community members. We condemn the creation of a hostile environment for scholarly inquiry and applaud thoughtful, faculty-inclusive recommitments to the practice of academic freedom.