academic freedom

The agreement specifies that UVA and the government “affirm the importance of and their support for academic freedom.”

If the current government gets to make these judgments, the implications for academic freedom and free speech in general are frightening.

In forceful speeches during the virtual meeting, participants called the compact “egregiously invalid,” “probably unconstitutional,” “antithetical to principles of academic freedom” and “a Trojan horse.”

The union also said the bill “raises serious free speech concerns” and will “arm ill-intentioned people” to attack “academic freedom and weaponize public education.”

The school’s faculty members strongly denounced the offering at a meeting this week, calling it “egregiously invalid,” “probably unconstitutional” and “antithetical to principles of academic freedom.”