The AAUP's Admirable Defense of Academic Freedom

It is a rare occasion when I have something complimentary to say about the American Association of University Professors. What makes today different is news that the AAUP has properly condemned the British Association of University Teachers’ vile boycott of Israeli academics.

As one might expect, those “conscientious Israeli academics” who are “opposed to their state's colonial and racist policies” are exempted from the AUT’s ban. The AAUP takes eloquent exception to this exemption, noting that “because it requires compliance with a political or ideological test in order for an academic relationship to continue, [it] deepens the injury to academic freedom rather than mitigates it.”

This is a poignant observation, and a true one — the AUUP is to be commended for making it. One wishes only that its enthusiasm for academic freedom were more consistent.