One of the ways of framing the importance of academic freedom is that it is the “freedom to learn.”
Maybe I’m wrong, but for me, learning always starts with students, and in this deeply insightful episode of our “Academic Freedom on the Line” Podcast, CDAF fellow and host, Vineeta Singh talks with Clare Carter of the Freedom to Learn program at PEN America, along with a number of student organizers to discuss tangible, on-the-ground work and organizing that is helping protect these freedoms in real time.
When reading the news about higher ed, I sometimes fear that the most meaningful aspects of education are slipping away. However, this episode—filled with stories from inspiring students who are fighting for a more just and inclusive higher education, and doing so with great optimism, passion, and facing personal risk—inspires me to keep up the fight.
Give it a listen!
Today’s student guests:
Dionicia Berrones is a Texas Students for DEI member who supports the collective with administrative and operational tasks, onboarding, and outreach. She is completing an EdM in Education Leadership, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship with a concentration in Identity, Power, and Justice in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Angel Yongyin Huang is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Sociology and minoring in Social Work. Angel is also the Economic Opportunity Fellow for Every Texan and a leader in Students Engaged in Advancing (SEAT), where she has been at the forefront of protecting students' rights by opposing educational censorship bills.
Laysha Renee Gonzalez is a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first-generation college student. With the support of the Terry Foundation Scholarship, she achieved her dream of studying at The University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Race, Indigeneity, and Migration and is Plan II Honors, with minors in Government and Women’s and Gender Studies, set to be the first in her lineage to graduate from a US university this May.
Savannah Dowell is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Louisville, double-majoring in history and gender studies with a minor in humanities. She’s also an organizer with the Kentucky Student Coalition for DEI, focusing on student outreach and collaboration between public universities across the Commonwealth.
Bradley Price, from Lexington, Kentucky by way of Natchitoches, Louisiana, is a junior undergraduate student at the University of Louisville, double-majoring in Pan-African Studies and English Literature with a minor in creative writing. She’s an organizer with the Kentucky Student Coalition for DEI, focusing on social media and collaboration between public universities across the Commonwealth.
Links:
Follow these orgs on social media through the handles:
@txstudentsfordei
@kystudents4dei
@students4deiuofl
America’s Censored Classrooms 2024 is an excellent introduction to the work of PEN America’s Freedom to Learn Team.
The views expressed in this newsletter and on the podcast are those of individual contributors and not those of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) or the AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom.
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