Harvard Faculty
Standing Together
for Academic Freedom & Shared Governance
The Harvard Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) organizes faculty and academic staff to protect academic freedom, strengthen democratic governance, and ensure economic security for everyone who teaches or conducts research at Harvard.
Recent News
Highlighted in Academe, the AAUP–Harvard Faculty Chapter has grown more than 600% since 2024, defending faculty rights, challenging administrative overreach, and protecting academic freedom through advocacy, litigation, and campus-wide organizing.
After a court victory, Harvard researchers were told some grants were being restored. But the battle over whether the government can halt the money is probably not over.
The A.A.U.P. is, for now, pressing forward with its own lawsuit against the Trump administration, even as Harvard would be likely to resolve, as part of any deal with the White House, the two federal court cases it filed.
Lawsuit filed along with motion for temporary restraining order calls threats an existential ‘gun to the head’
Cambridge officials, residents, and members of the Harvard community braved the cold and rain Saturday for a rally on the Cambridge Common calling on Harvard University to push back on new demands by the Trump administration. The Cambridge City Council partially sponsored the demonstration.
Harvard professors are suing the Trump administration over its review of about $9 billion in federal funding for the university following pro-Palestine protests, calling the move a “gun to the head.” In the lawsuit, the professors argue that reviewing the funding is discriminatory and undermines free speech.
Press Releases
The Executive Committee of AAUP-Harvard Faculty Chapter is alarmed by the abrupt termination of Professor Mary T. Bassett as Director of the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
AAUP-Harvard Faculty Chapter Executive Committee Condemns Trump Administration’s Termination of Harvard’s SEVP Certification
Harvard AAUP and National AAUP Sue Trump Administration to Block Unlawful Funding Cuts.
Read the complaint here.
The Executive Committee of AAUP-Harvard Faculty Chapter condemns the abrupt termination of the leadership of Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES): Professor Cemal Kafadar as Director and Associate Professor Rosie Bsheer as Associate Director.
Who We Are
Founded in June 2024, the AAUP–Harvard Faculty Chapter unites all who contribute to Harvard’s teaching and research mission.
Membership is open to: standing and contingent faculty, graduate researchers and instructors, postdocs, librarians, archivists, curators, and technicians whose work supports scholarship and instruction.
What We’re Fighting For
Advocate for meaningful, democratic university governance
Defend academic freedom
Promote economic security and fair working conditions