Category: Events

By Posted on Posted in Events, Statements

Note: Use this form to add your name to the list at the end of this post.

On March 31, 2026, the Provost’s Office released a draft of the Open Expressions Guidelines via the Penn Almanac.  As we noted in our statement two weeks ago, the process behind replacing the Temporary Guidelines has been opaque and diverged from historical precedent at Penn. In terms of protecting free speech and academic freedom, the new guidelines are problematic: They are expanded to encompass online expression of Penn community members; increase the likelihood of disciplinary action for violating the standards; make additional demands on producing identification during events; and introduce a new Executive Director of Open Expression, who is appointed by and reports to the Provost.  

AAUP-Penn is committed to shared governance and academic freedom, and the proposed guidelines undermine both.  They further concentrate power in the Provost’s Office, eroding the ability of faculty, students and staff across campus to engage in debate about difficult topics – something that’s crucial to intellectual life.   Now is the time to let the Provost’s Office know that true open expression is central to Penn’s community, and any process shaping it has to include both meaningful contributions from across campus and a commitment to protecting the right to peaceful protest.

We invite all members of the Penn community – students, staff, faculty and alums – to urge the Provost’s Office to commit to (1) shared decision making and procedural transparency and (2) robust protection of free speech.

AAUP-Penn invites members of the Penn community to publicly affirm the following statement: “I object to the process and contents of these proposed guidelines and urge the Provost to commit both to greater protection of free speech and to follow long-established, shared decision-making procedures for university policy changes.” A list of signatories will be added to this page shortly and updated daily. Use this reply form to add your name. In addition, faculty, staff, and students in the Penn community are invited to commit to take specific actions to defend shared governance and free speech on campus:

  • Attend an AAUP-Penn meetup at 3:00 pm on Thursday, April 23, 2026, immediately before the scheduled In-Person Listening Session (sign up for updates via our reply form as well).
  • Attend the In-Person Listening Session at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, 2026, at Perry World House.
  • Attend the Virtual Listening Session at 12:00 noon on Friday, April 24, 2026.

[Update: April 6th, 8:45pm] The undersigned members of the Penn community affirm the statement: “I object to the process and contents of these proposed guidelines and urge the Provost to commit both to greater protection of free speech and to follow long-established, shared decision-making procedures for university policy changes.”

  1. Jessa Lingel (Faculty, Annenberg School for Communication)
  2. Akira Drake Rodriguez (Faculty, Stuart Weitzman School of Design)
  3. Lorena Grundy (Faculty, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
  4. Chi-ming Yang (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  5. Andrew Lamas (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Social Policy and Practice)
  6. Jen McLaughlin Cahill (Faculty, Graduate School of Education)
  7. So-Rim Lee (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  8. Jessica Whitelaw (Faculty, Graduate School of Education)
  9. Suvir Kaul (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  10. Victor Pickard (Faculty, Annenberg School for Communication)
  11. Carolyn Marvin (Faculty, Annenberg School for Communication)
  12. Robert Vitalis (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  13. Philip Gressman (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  14. Karen Redrobe (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  15. Kate Rojas (Staff, Penn Libraries)
  16. Ryan Fair (Research Associate/Postdoc, Perelman School of Medicine)
  17. Alexander Berry (Graduate Student, Penn Carey Law)
  18. Ben Webster (Staff, Penn Libraries)
  19. John Wolfe (Faculty, Perelman School of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine)
  20. Clara Abbott (Graduate Student, Graduate School of Education)
  21. Sam Schirvar (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  22. Julia Alekseyeva  (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  23. Carl DeBaun  (Staff, Perelman School of Medicine)
  24. LauraEllen Ashcraft (Faculty, Perelman School of Medicine)
  25. Caz Batten (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  26. Bruce Simon (Associate Professor of English at SUNY Fredonia and President of the SUNY University Faculty Senate)
  27. Riley Shahar (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  28. Katherine Knox (Graduate Student, Stuart Weitzman School of Design)
  29. Cara Bishop (Staff, School of Arts and Sciences)
  30. Kerry Nix (Graduate Student, Perelman School of Medicine)
  31. Sam Franz (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  32. Janice Bellace (Faculty, Wharton School)
  33. Jonathan Nadraws (Research Associate/Postdoc, Perelman School of Medicine)
  34. Sarah True (Staff, Perelman School of Medicine)
  35. David Kazanjian (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  36. Robin Pemantle (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  37. Randall Burson (Graduate Student, Perelman School of Medicine)
  38. Maya  English (Graduate Student, Perelman School of Medicine)
  39. Michael Marks (Faculty, Perelman School of Medicine)
  40. Rachel Silverstein (Graduate Student, Graduate School of Education)
  41. Maxine Calle (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  42. Rafael  Khachaturian  (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  43. Miles Black (Alumni, Perelman School of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania)
  44. Nicolai Apenes (Graduate Student, Perelman School of Medicine)
  45. Mathias Wegner (Staff, Information Systems and Computing)
  46. Xavier Xin (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  47. Rylee Smith (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  48. Nora Bradford (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  49. Kathryn Chen (Alumni, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
  50. Asia Kopcsandy (Staff, School of Veterinary Medicine)
  51. Amy Offner (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  52. Austin Miles (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  53. Ethan Blackwood (Graduate Student, Perelman School of Medicine)
  54. Justin Mullikin (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  55. Daniel Angelis-Kaisla (Staff, Stuart Weitzman School of Design)
  56. Gerald Campano (Faculty, Graduate School of Education)
  57. Violet Ullman (Graduate Student, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
  58. Richard M Leventhal (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  59. Stephanie Feldman (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  60. Emma Glenister (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  61. Elena Sisti (Center for Bioethics)
  62. Peter Holquist (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  63. Jenavive Banes (Graduate Student, School of Social Policy and Practice)
  64. Isabel Navarro (Graduate Student, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
  65. Bakirathi Mani (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  66. Carolina García (Perelman School of Medicine)
  67. Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher (Faculty, Graduate School of Education)
  68. Samuel Martin (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  69. Huda  Fakhreddine  (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  70. Rami George (Faculty, Stuart Weitzman School of Design)
  71. Selma Feliciano Arroyo (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  72. Andrea Liu (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  73. PAMELA FELDER-SMALL (Alumni, Graduate School of Education)
  74. Michelle Taransky (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  75. Anne Berg (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  76. David Lydon-Staley (Faculty, Annenberg School for Communication)
  77. Marcy Norton (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  78. Marc Muhleisen (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  79. Fabian Arzuaga (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  80. Ian Lustick (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  81. Ann Farnsworth-Alvear (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  82. Tim Holliday (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  83. Henry Towsner (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  84. Emily Perkins (Research Associate/Postdoc, Perelman School of Medicine, School of Arts and Sciences)
  85. Jami Fisher (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  86. Kirsten Lydic (Graduate Student, Annenberg School for Communication)
  87. Matthew Conaty (Graduate Student, Annenberg School for Communication)
  88. Emilie Grybos (Graduate Student, Annenberg School for Communication)
  89. Julian Quiros (Research Associate/Postdoc, Annenberg School for Communication)
  90. Yphtach Lelkes (Faculty, Annenberg School for Communication)
  91. Shawn Kornhauser (Staff, Annenberg School for Communication)
  92. Eszter Zimanyi (Staff, Annenberg School for Communication)
  93. Lucy March (Research Associate/Postdoc, Annenberg School for Communication)
  94. Kelly Fernandez (Staff, Annenberg School for Communication)
  95. Phillip Fackler (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  96. Sima Kokotovic (Research Associate/Postdoc, Annenberg School for Communication)
  97. Christine Phan (Graduate Student, Annenberg School for Communication)
  98. Emily Falk (Faculty, Annenberg School for Communication)
  99. Jenny Lee (Graduate Student, Annenberg School for Communication)
  100. Sarah  Jackson (Faculty, Annenberg School for Communication)
  101. Donovan Schaefer (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  102. Siarhei Biareishyk (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
  103. Huay Din (Graduate Student, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
  104. Georgia McClain (Graduate Student, Perelman School of Medicine)
  105. Ben Mathews (Graduate Student, School of Arts and Sciences)
  106. Marlene Probst (Graduate Student, Perelman School of Medicine)
  107. Kate Okker-Edging (Graduate Student, Annenberg School for Communication)
  108. Rupa Pillai (Faculty, School of Arts and Sciences)
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What should you do—and what shouldn’t you do—when a colleague is subject to targeted harassment?

What are the responsibilities of administrators, chairs, departments, faculty senates, and individual faculty members?

Over the past decade, targeted harassment has grown as one key component of organized, well-funded, rightwing attacks on higher education. Learn about the organizational networks that generate outrage-baiting stories about faculty members, proven strategies for dealing with them, and ways that you and your colleagues together can defend the rights of faculty members who are defamed, doxxed, or threatened.

Targeted harassment is a problem for all of us, not just individuals in the crosshairs—and addressing it requires you to be informed and prepared. Targeted harassment threatens the academic freedom of all faculty members; it aims to isolate faculty from each other; and it aims to incite rash reactions from colleagues and administrations—public denunciations, unilateral discipline, and more—that undermine due process procedures necessary to protect academic freedom.

This workshop will feature Professors Isaac Kamola and Heather Steffen of Faculty First Responders, who are also contributors to the new Researcher Support Consortium. These are the preeminent national organizations that have studied targeted harassment and advised faculty and administrations nationwide.

If you are experiencing targeted harassment, please contact AAUP-Penn. You are also welcome to attend.

If you are NOT experiencing targeted harassment, this workshop is for you.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/95978727174?pwd=uQrO74PJ69y9n1dQBeAhoIVnOVNYVj.1

Meeting ID: 959 7872 7174

Passcode: 257673

Dial by your location

• +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)

• +1 646 931 3860 US• +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) *ASL Interpretation provided through this number – For Deaf and Hard of Hearing participants who use ASL, please call your VRS (Video Relay Service), and give the interpreter this number in order to access interpretation for the Zoom meeting. Contact us at aaup.penn@gmail.com if you have any questions or need further information about this.

Targeted Harassment Workshop Flyer 10-25-24_V2Download
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By Posted on Posted in Events, News

An important update on GET-UP’s union election and our demonstration on April 17—a part of the National Day of Action for Higher Ed involving more than 90 campuses across the U.S.:

As you know, a supermajority of graduate workers filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in October 2023, and they have waited half a year to vote because of Penn’s obstructionist tactics. In late March, the NLRB finally ruled that the election could go ahead and set a date: April 16-17. In an unprecedented show of support, over 240 faculty members signed a public statement of support for graduate unionization, and four campus labor organizations—GET-UP, AAUP-Penn, Penn Museum Workers United, and United RAs at Penn—announced a joint rally on April 17.

In a twist of events, the election date was changed with less than a week’s notice. On April 10, the NLRB ruled that a group of graduate student workers whom Penn had tried to exclude could vote in their election—a victory for the grad union. It then postponed the election by two weeks to provide the administration time to produce a list of eligible workers. In response, on April 10, Penn asked the NLRB to delay the election until the fall—a shameless attempt to deny workers their legal right to vote. The NLRB rightly rejected Penn’s proposal and is trying to reschedule the election for May 1–2 (dates to be confirmed).

Penn’s eleventh-hour demand to postpone the election indicates that the administration’s anti-union campaign is not over: the University intends to fight its own research and teaching assistants straight through the election, and likely beyond.

In the face of Penn’s anti-union campaign, our April 17 demonstration for grad workers’ right to vote for their union is more important than ever. As we approach the end of an academic year during which we have also faced serious attacks on freedom of assembly, academic freedom, and shared governance, GET-UP members’ vote for a collective voice at Penn also represents a vital step toward democratizing our institution. The demonstration will go ahead as planned on April 17 at 1pm at the Button. The message of the day remains: Unions belong at Penn. Democracy belongs at Penn. We stand with grad workers as they prepare to win their union.

So please come on April 17 at 1pm to the Button to show your support, and to stand up and be counted on this National Day of Action. Your participation is important as a show of unity across job categories in support of the rights of grad workers—and as an expression of broad-based support for the principle of democracy at our institution and in our society.

By Posted on Posted in Events, News

Members of many higher ed unions, AAUP chapters including AAUP-Penn, Higher Ed Labor United, and student organizations are coming together across the country to plan a national day of action for higher education on April 17, 2024. The aim is not just to beat back the current attacks on academic freedom, DEI bans, and devastating budget cuts to public institutions in many states. We will mobilize around a unifying national message that links our local struggles with a set of positive demands we can fight for together, including publicly funded higher ed for all, freedom to learn, job security and fair pay, and democratic governance of our institutions. This statement outlines the future we stand for. 

The centerpiece of the day will be simultaneous actions on every campus that can organize one: a teach-in, demonstration, tabling event, or whatever would be useful and feasible for you, oriented to the key issues that you are already organizing around. There will also be a national event focused on the function of higher education for democracy. If you are interested in getting involved:

April 17 Day of Action Events: How to Participate and Next Steps
1) Make a plan with your union for a campus/local action on April 17
2) Have your union endorse the statement The Future We Stand For (members: AAUP-Penn has already endorsed)
3) Important: Register your union’s participation and endorsement by filling out this form!

National Teach-In
In addition to the campus actions that will be the main focus of the day, there will be a live-streamed National Teach-in on the function of higher education for democracy at 5pm EST on April 17 (click here to register). Many campuses are organizing watch parties with live discussion, either in addition to a local action or as their event.

Upcoming Planning Meeting on 3/29
If you’re looking to get involved or if you have questions, join the next open meeting on Friday, March 29 at 1pm EST via Zoom (click here to join). Learn about the National Day of Action, discuss what you’re experiencing on your campus, and think about the kind of action you could organize on April 17.

Save the date: follow-up meetings
We hope this first National Day of Action will be a springboard for ongoing mobilization together! So after April 17, join us for two follow-up meetings to plan next steps:

Fri, April 26, 2-3pm EST (click here to join)
Mon, May 6, 1-2pm EST (click here to join)

For further information, visit dayofactionforhighered.org.

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As the historic unionization wave continues on our campus, especially as Penn graduate student workers in GET-UP gear up to vote for their union this spring after a highly successful organizing campaign, now is a crucial time for faculty as well as Penn employees across job categories to educate ourselves and each other on the right to organize.

AAUP–Penn is honored to host a lecture and conversation on February 27th with an expert on the subject, Janice R. Bellace, Samuel Blank Professor Emerita of Legal Studies in the Wharton School and past Chair of the International Labor Organization’s Committee of Experts, who will discuss freedom of association and unionization as human rights. Join us on 2/27 at 4pm EST on zoom to hear Janice R. Bellace speak on “Graduate Student Workers’ Human Right to Organize.”

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On January 22, 2024, Penn faculty, students, graduate workers, staff, and allies from across campus, across local higher ed unions, and across Philly stood out in the cold together to rally for the basic principles that make a university a university: academic freedom, shared institutional governance that represents us all, open expression, and equity and diversity, all of which enable higher education to serve the purpose of generating new knowledge for the public good. “Universities don’t exist to serve private interests,” as AAUP–Penn President Amy Offner said in her opening remarks; “They are not tools for the business interests or political agendas of donors and trustees.’”

The lineup of speakers—including tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty from many departments and schools across Penn from Arts & Sciences to SP2 and from Wharton to Veterinary Medicine, as well as undergraduate students, medical students, grad workers in GET-UP, and colleagues and allies from other universities—spoke out powerfully in support of academic freedom and shared governance, open expression, and diversity and equity, all of which are under assault across the U.S. and at our own university.

Without academic freedom, higher education is impossible. This right—a right defined by the American Association of University Professors from its founding in 1915 and won through past mobilizations by faculty across higher education—has long been enshrined in Penn’s policies, but it is not self-enforcing. That is why so many members of the Penn community have committed to standing together in solidarity to insist that the freedom to teach is essential to the freedom to learn, and to claim academic freedom and practice it as a collective right.

Yesterday’s public demonstration marked the start of a campaign by faculty across the University of Pennsylvania not just to beat back the current assault by billionaire CEOs, trustees, and politicians, but to fight for and win positive institutional changes that will strengthen academic freedom and the forms of job security meant to protect it and that will democratize our university’s governing structures in order to make the freedom to teach and learn a reality for all of us who study and teach at Penn.

You can read press coverage from the DP here and from the Philadelphia Inquirer here.

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AAUP–Penn is organizing a public demonstration on Monday, January 22 at 2pm in support of freedom to learn, teach, and study; shared institutional governance; and diversity and racial justice. We are calling on faculty, staff, students, workers, and allies from across Penn, across institutions, and across Philly to stand together to defend and strengthen these principles.

This is a crucial time to push back against billionaires and politicians who are threatening all of us who work and study at Penn. You have undoubtedly seen that Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo Global Management and co-chair of the Wharton Board of Governors, has circulated a memo suggesting that unelected Penn trustees assume powers to unilaterally close departments, impose McCarthyite speech codes clearly aimed at suppressing protest, and change hiring and admissions policies to turn back the clock on gains in diversity and racial justice. These are serious threats to our institution’s educational and research mission and to the work that all of us do.

Now is not a moment to stand on the sidelines. Your participation is vital in demonstrating that the majority of Penn faculty, students, and staff believe in academic freedom, shared governance, open expression, and diversity. So come out to the button (in front of Van Pelt) on Jan. 22 at 2pm to say loud and clear that we will not let CEOs and politicians destroy these principles, and we intend to win positive institutional changes strengthening them.



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Penn colleagues and students, please mark your calendars for a January 19 Open Forum on Academic Freedom and Shared Governance, featuring remarks from invited guest speakers Joan Wallach Scott and Hank Reichman—former chairs of AAUP’s national Committee A on Academic Freedom. This will be an opportunity to learn more about academic freedom and shared governance—principles that AAUP defined over a century ago and that are written into Penn’s Faculty Handbook—and to discuss together how we can strengthen them at Penn.

Join via zoom on 1/19 at 1pm; email for the meeting link if you haven’t received an invitation. Sign language interpretation will be available throughout the session.

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We invite all faculty to attend our third and final faculty conversation on unionization at Penn on Friday, October 20, at 12 noon on Zoom. This is a chance to learn about unionization and about how anti-union campaigns operate, and to discuss questions and concerns that faculty might have and/or to equip yourself to answer colleagues’ questions about GET-UP. 

Please register here for the meeting link or use the final QR code below. Hope to see you there!

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