The AFA unites academics together in declared solidarity with moral and financial support for promoting intellectual freedom, by:

• Providing financial support for legal costs should constitutional or contractual rights be violated by the institutions or officials of institutions where they serve

• Deterring victimization of faculty members by protecting against isolation or besiegement

• Defending the rights of freedom of thought and expression as well as their right to privacy – especially email communications

• Supporting the right to conduct research, within established ethical bounds

• Protecting the ability to design courses and conduct classes as they judge best

• Challenging required indoctrination, ideological loyalty pledges, and professions of faith (beyond contractual obligations)

• Opposing intellectual conformism, the politicization of curriculum, and anything antithetical to truth-seeking

by Keith Whittington, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University

College campuses find themselves in a battle over the scope of free inquiry and debate. Its resolution is far from clear, but its implications will likely extend far beyond the ivory tower. The stakes are high. If universities turn against intellectual freedom, we will not only lose much of the good that universities can contribute to American society and to the world more broadly; we will also strengthen the forces working to weaken protections for free speech under the First Amendment. Read More>