Statement of the AAUP-Penn Executive Committee on Penn’s Title IX Resolution Agreement
This spring, more than 1100 workers at Penn signed a petition demanding that Penn uphold research and counter funding cuts, affirm sanctuary and legal rights of immigrants, maintain commitments to DEIA, and stand up for equal treatment for LGBTQ+ members of our community. Yesterday’s announcement of a resolution agreement between the University and the Department of Education over a Title IX investigation is a painful reminder that Penn’s administration will not adhere to these values. By following a path of political expediency at the expense of trans athletes, Penn makes all trans students, faculty, staff, and community members less safe, exposing them to renewed and emboldened harassment and discriminatory treatment.
Penn’s Latin motto, Leges Sine Moribus Vanae, is usually translated to “Laws Without Morals are Useless.” Rather than putting these principles into practice, Penn has put a price tag on our values, showing the Department of Education that it can use funding freezes to hold us hostage. This outcome is fundamentally about two things: (1) a failure to commit to a campus where everyone can thrive, and (2) the lack of input that key stakeholders have in making decisions that affect how people learn, teach and work at Penn.
The AAUP-Penn Executive Committee calls on all members of the university community to recognize the urgency of this moment. Those who work and study at Penn must together hold this institution accountable to its professed ideals, including the freedom to teach, the freedom to learn, and the freedom to engage in shared decision-making for the future of Penn. The need for all workers at Penn to join together and fight for the principles we share has never been more critical.
For further information, please see the following resources:
- Penn labor coalition petition “Penn must uphold research, sanctuary, DEIA, nondiscrimination, and the rights of all members of our community”
- AAUP policy statement “On Academic Freedom and Transphobia”
- AAUP “Statement on Professional Ethics”
- AAUP policy statement “The Role of the Faculty in the Governance of College Athletics”
- AAUP Academe article “The Assault on Transgender Students”
