AAUP-OSU Stands for Academic Freedom
- AAUP OSU
- Aug 2, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 10, 2025
AAUP-OSU Stands for Academic Freedom: A Response to President Carter’s July 27th Face the Nation interview
On Sunday, July 27th, Ohio State President Ted Carter sat for an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation. Journalist Margaret Brennan pressed Carter about recent federal and state efforts to cut research funding and curtail academic freedom at the university. Carter responded by saying that Ohio State is a model of compliance and does not face the same fiscal or legal threats as our counterparts in the Ivy League. “We stand behind our actions,” he said, and “we’re going to be just fine.” We at AAUP-OSU beg to differ.
The compliant posture of the current administration, bending to the whims of those who see university faculty and students as “the enemy,” has seriously compromised and threatened academic freedom and freedom of speech at Ohio State.
Repressing Student Protest
Let us not forget that the OSU Administration invited and defended the police crackdown on student-led pro-Palestine protests in April 2024. In the interview, Carter offers this suppression of free speech as evidence of OSU’s compliance. In reality, it is a dark mark on OSU’s recent history and a sign of the current crisis. On April 25, 2024 dozens of protesters were hurt and hauled into jail. The message delivered at that time was that some voices and perspectives on campus are not welcome and will be actively suppressed.
Backtracking on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
More campus voices were silenced when the administration announced, well before being required to do so by law, the “sunset” of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Center for Belonging and Social Change. This meant firing staff and preemptively moving student workers to new positions, as well as shifting criteria for fellowships and scholarships during the spring 2025 semester. The perspective of faculty, staff, and students on the slashing of DEI programs is clear. Around 1,000 people came to the rally on the Oval on March 4, 2025 to protest SB1 and voice their anger about cutting these historic programs.
Failing to Defend Students
Again, when the administration claimed to be assisting international students caught up in the Trump administration’s targeting of political speech, it did little beyond notifying students of their visa revocations. The Carter administration was largely silent about supporting our students, their freedom of speech, or their simple right to remain on campus as members in good standing of our community.
Shared Governance on the Line
Adding insult to injury, Ohio State moved rapidly to establish the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, the result of a highly partisan legislative effort designed to correct for the alleged widespread “indoctrination” of students by faculty. In doing so, it circumvented established university norms and procedures to promote so-called “intellectual diversity” on campus. (In January 2025, the University Senate voted to oppose the Chase Center’s creation, to no avail.) Now, Carter boasts to a national audience about the university’s implementation of Senate Bill 1, legislation which bans DEI, discourages the teaching of “controversial topics,” promotes surveillance of faculty, and curtails our rights as workers to organize.
Misreading the Threat to Higher Ed
When urged to join a Big Ten alliance to defend university norms of self-governance against state and federal government overreach, the Carter Administration demurred, citing legal concerns. Faculty Senate voted in favor of such an alliance, raising the question of who exactly represents the interests of faculty, staff, and students in advancing and defending academic freedom and true diversity of thought on our campuses and in our civic life. During the July 20th interview Carter implied that attacks on higher education are an Ivy League problem. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the stakes of the attacks on–and precarious condition of–higher education today. He had an opportunity to stand with higher education leaders to address central challenges that universities and colleges across the United States confront, and to clearly articulate our common values. Instead, he deflected.
From Words to Deeds
Carter ended the interview stating, “we are still passionate about” academic freedom at Ohio State. Given the actions taken by the university administration to date, and the intensifying political scrutiny and repression of university life, in Ohio and throughout the country, this assertion comes across as empty rhetoric. We expect our university President to speak and act in defense of our core principles. What is the OSU Administration going to do to support our freedom of speech and academic freedom?
AAUP Fights for Academic Freedom
The Ohio State Chapter of the AAUP believes strongly that the principle of academic freedom and the right to free speech must be vigorously and continuously defended, not just by mouthing a commitment to “values,” but by principled actions in alliance with our colleagues across affected institutions. The threats to our ability to teach, research, learn, gather, and speak freely are clear, present, and intensifying. Our chapter is committed to holding university leaders accountable and to collaborating with faculty colleagues, students, and allies around the state and country to ensure that our institutions remain spaces of rigorous teaching and learning, innovative research, and open debate.
The OSU Chapter of the AAUP stands for academic freedom in all of its forms. Join us in the fight!
