FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2022
Contact: Jenna A. Robinson
President
919-828-1400
jarobinson@jamesgmartin.center
Raleigh, NC—The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal strongly disagrees with the AAUP’s resolution to condemn UNC.
On June 16, the governing council of the American Association of University Professors voted unanimously to pass a joint resolution condemning the university system for “patterns of institutional racism caused by long-standing political interference.”
Martin Center president Jenna A. Robinson addressed those accusations, first aired in an AAUP special report, in May of this year. Robinson wrote:
“[T]he report is a clear hit job on people and policies that its authors don’t like. In its zeal to criticize Republicans, it misses something fundamental: Governance of public universities has always been political. The only thing that has changed is the party that’s in charge.”
The AAUP’s politics have corrupted its vision of academic freedom and its judgment on issues of board governance. As such, the AAUP’s recent report and corresponding resolution aren’t serious investigative endeavors. They are political statements. Previously, Robinson wrote,
“[This report is] a very thinly veiled attempt at intimidation in a power struggle between left-of-center faculty members and the governance structure that stops them from having completely free rein on campus.”
The Martin Center is frequently a critic of the UNC System’s policies. But in this case, we stand by the UNC Board of Governors and the University of North Carolina.