The Bowdoin chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) released a letter on Wednesday in response to infringements upon academic freedom within higher education under the Trump administration and concerns over how these federal actions could directly impact the College. The letter has been signed by 184 Bowdoin faculty, staff and emerita, 46 of whom have redacted their names.

“We the undersigned stand in solidarity with students, faculty, staff, and administrators around the country who have rejected recent actions by the federal government that weaponize financial support for campus research and teaching; abuse statutory measures and legal protections designed to protect vulnerable groups; target students, faculty, and staff for deportation without due process; and silence voices of dissent. Such actions constitute an immediate and direct threat to our Bowdoin community,” the letter reads.

The letter expresses support for the College’s efforts to protect the Bowdoin community and calls for the College to continue upholding principles of academic freedom, core values, institutional autonomy and privacy for students, faculty and staff. In the event that these principles are challenged, the letter calls for the College to legally challenge and protect the institution from those threats.

This letter follows an ongoing congressional investigation into the College regarding its response to the Bowdoin Students for Justice in Palestine encampment in February and centers three out of its seven demands on the protection of the rights to free speech and peaceful protest.

The following are numbered requests from the letter.

“4) Refuse to comply with demands for names and communications of students, faculty, and staff…. 6) Affirm that the College will not tolerate harassment of any students, faculty, and staff—whether queer, trans, international, Jewish, Palestinian, or otherwise—exercising their rights to speech, assembly, association, and peaceful protest. 7) Reject cynical invocations of antisemitism that undermine democratic norms, stifle critical dialogue, and strip individuals of their rights,” the letter reads.

Professor of English Aaron Kitch, a member of the Bowdoin AAUP’s steering committee, shared that the committee began writing the letter before President Safa Zaki signed the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) letter calling for the protection of academic freedom in higher education last week. He affirms that the signatories stand in solidarity with Zaki and other presidents committed to defending colleges and universities.

“We stand united. We are eager to collaborate with President Zaki to defend Bowdoin, and we support her efforts to cooperate with hundreds of college and university presidents to protect higher education,” the AAUP letter reads.

Kitch emphasized the importance of faculty support and organization during these unprecedented attacks on higher education.

“Now more than ever, we need to uphold the core principles of academic freedom and the pursuit of unbiased truth. We reject any and all efforts to undermine democratic norms of governance, censor what we teach or how we teach it and demonize students, faculty or staff on the basis of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, heritage, abilities or beliefs,” Kitch wrote in an email to the Orient.

Kitch also noted that he sees the letter as outlining core values upheld by the College. He hopes the letter opens a safe space for dialogue about academic freedom among the Bowdoin community and how to best protect students at this time.

“[The letter] is directed at students, staff, faculty, alumni and anyone in the general public who cares about academic freedom and the value of institutions of higher education in this uncertain national moment,” Kitch wrote. “There are many students who are feeling scared and vulnerable, and this letter says to them that we care about them and that we as faculty and staff will do what we can to protect cherished principles and values of Bowdoin as an educational space.”

The Bowdoin AAUP will continue to gather signatures in the coming weeks.