Endorsements
As of April 8, 2025, the Brown University Chapter of the AAUP has proudly endorsed an “Open Letter to President Paxson, Provost Doyle, and the Corporation of Brown University,” which you can find here:
https://forms.gle/9TQfYthpjMNHrvCDA
The text reads as follows:
Dear President Paxson, Provost Doyle, and the Corporation of Brown University,
1. As faculty, staff, students, and alumni of Brown University, we fully support recent statements made by Brown University President Christina Paxson, and will stand together with our administration in defending these values in the face of intimidation and attack. We can do so only by standing united with other universities facing similar threats.
2. We particularly support this statement: “Brown will always defend academic freedom and freedom of expression, for the University as an institution and for individual members of our community. This means that our faculty and students must be able to study and learn academic subjects of their choosing freely and without fear of censorship. These freedoms have, since the time of Brown’s founding, been essential to our mission of advancing knowledge and understanding in a ‘spirit of free inquiry.’ As foundational principles, they ensure that members of our community have the ability to advance the institutional mission by engaging freely in teaching, research and scholarship, without external intrusion.”
3. As part of that mission, we must uphold our legal obligation as a university to protect all members of our community from harassment and discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Brown is a richer community due to its diversity. Brown must do all it can to ensure the safety of its non-U.S. citizens. Without a legal directive such as a warrant or subpoena, the university must not assist immigration authorities or provide them with information about any member of the Brown community.
4. Brown must mobilize its endowment and other resources to rise to the challenge of this unprecedented assault on higher education. Emergency measures taken in times of crises tend to become permanent. Therefore it is imperative that any changes to Brown academic programming be decided and implemented in partnership with the faculty.
5. Founded on the principle of religious freedom, Brown’s 1764 charter states that “all the members hereof shall forever enjoy full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience.” Our dedication to these values, even through the most difficult times, is what has secured our community as one of free inquiry and inclusion for over 260 years. We stand together in protecting them.
Amicus Brief
The Brown University Chapter of the AAUP has also signed an amicus brief in support of AAUP vs. Rubio:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:4e740eed-cb23-488f-8da1-b7fe9f4b3e8a
Reaffirming Academic Freedom
On October 24, 2023 the National Headquarters of the AAUP issued a statement on “Academic Freedom in Times of War,” which offers a crucial reminder of the rights that must be upheld and respected during these devastating times:
“It is in tumultuous times that colleges’ and universities’ stated commitments to protect academic freedom are most put to the test. As the Israel-Hamas war rages and campus protests proliferate, institutional authorities must refrain from sanctioning faculty members for expressing politically controversial views and should instead defend their right, under principles of academic freedom, to do so.
[…]
At the heart of academic freedom is the protection of free and open inquiry, including expression of controversial ideas that some may consider wrong or offensive. Academic freedom not only protects faculty speech in teaching, research, and institutional decision-making; it also protects the right “to address the larger community with regard to any matter of social, political, economic, or other interest” (AAUP, Protecting an Independent Faculty Voice: Academic Freedom after Garcetti v. Ceballos). Since the AAUP recognizes that right as a crucial component of academic freedom, extramural speech, which often occurs in highly charged political moments, must not be subject to institutional sanction.”
You will find the full statement here: https://www.aaup.org/news/academic-freedom-times-war.
Faculty Alert: Prior University Policy Concerning Retirement Contributions Restored
As of April 20, 2022, our efforts to raise and voice concern over changes to University policy have met with success. According to an announcement by Interim Provost Larry Larson, whereas “retirement plans were amended” in 2020 in order “to allow for discretionary, rather than specified, University contributions,” it is now deemed that such “flexibility is no longer necessary, and no changes to our retirement plans are anticipated in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, and following discussion over the course of this semester, the Corporation approved the recommendation of the administration that the language in the retirement plans specifying the levels of University contributions be restored exactly as it was prior to September 2020. The updated plan summaries can be reviewed on the University Human Resources website (https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/human-resources/benefits).” We thank all who have advocated for this crucial step to protect faculty benefits!
Faculty Alert: Change to University Policy Concerning Retirement Contributions
Prior to November 1, 2020, the policy concerning contributions from the University to faculty retirement accounts was stipulated as follows (as quoted from Brown’s “Summary Plan Description”):
“The University will contribute each month an amount equal to 6% of your Eligible Salary as a ‘Basic’ contribution. Whether you elect to make voluntary contributions or not, you will receive this basic contribution if you are eligible. The 6% amount is calculated each month based on your Eligible Salary. When you attain both age 55 and ten (10) years of service with the University, the Basic Contribution increases to 8% of your Eligible Salary. The University will also contribute each month a fixed amount equal to 100% of your salary deferral contributions, not in excess of 2% of your Eligible Salary. If you do not make a salary deferral contributions, you will not receive any matching contributions.”
But as of November 1, 2020, these terms have changed. This is the new policy, quoted from page 5 of the “Summary Plan”:
“Beginning November 1, 2020, all University contributions will be discretionary, which means that each Plan Year, the University determines whether to make employer contributions and the amounts and/or percentages of such employer contributions. Effective November 1, 2020, if you are an Eligible University Contribution Employee, the University may contribute to the Plan the following amounts: (a) an employer discretionary contribution (other than a matching contribution) and (b) an employer discretionary matching contribution equal to a percentage of your salary deferral contributions (but not in excess of a specified percentage of your Eligible Salary, as determined by the University in its discretion). If the University decides to make an employer discretionary contribution, the amount and timing of the contribution will be determined at the time the contribution is announced.”
As you can see, the University’s contribution to our retirement accounts has now been redefined as “discretionary” and will be reconsidered each year.