AEJMC Resolution One 2022
Educational Gag Order Legislation and Academic Freedom
News Release:
December 8, 2022
CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271
Deb Aikat, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, AEJMC president
Gabriel B. Tait, Ph.D., Ball State University, AEJMC PF&R Committee chair
MASS COMMUNICATION EDUCATORS URGE LAWMAKERS TO OPPOSE GAG ORDERS
COLUMBIA, S.C.– As state legislatures gear up for their 2023 legislative sessions, members of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), with support from leaders of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC), overwhelmingly oppose any legislation restricting topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“The academic freedom of a teacher to speak and associate freely as exemplars of open-mindedness and free inquiry is of utmost importance,” said Gabriel Tait, a Ball State University professor who leads the committee that oversees First Amendment issues for AEJMC. “We believe our collective voice can send a strong message to those who would create a chill on the great work that media educators do in making our society more inclusive and diverse,” Dr. Tait adds.
In recent years, more than 50 so-called educational gag order (EGO) bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the U.S. This month, AEJMC members overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing educational gag order legislation that restricts training on “prohibited” or “divisive” concepts, and imposes government dictates on teaching and learning.
“For more than 110 years, AEJMC has thrived as a resolutely non-partisan, interdisciplinary organization fostering excellence in education, research, and professional freedom,” said AEJMC President Deb Aikat, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We, as educators, foster academic freedom and cherish its impact in our classroom and beyond.”
AEJMC, among the nation’s largest organizations of journalism and mass communication educators, students, and media professionals, vigorously defends the right of free expression, in alignment with its Professional Freedom and Responsibility mission. In fact, one of the standards of academic work environments is an individual faculty member’s freedom to educate in a manner most appropriate for the curriculum designed for the discipline or craft.
AEJMC and ASJMC are primed to assist in continuing to advocate for academic freedom and free expression in the classroom.
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC)
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit scholarly organization with more than 2,000 members in about 40 countries who teach and research journalism, public relations, advertising, digital media, film, and media literacy. Founded in 1912, AEJMC is the oldest and largest alliance of communication educators and administrators at the college level. AEJMC’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to encourage the broadest possible range of communication research, to promote the implementation of a multicultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice, a better-informed public, and wider human understanding. For more information about AEJMC, please visit www.AEJMC.org.
Resolution One:
Whereas, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) vigorously defends the right of free expression as one of its core areas of professional freedom and responsibility; and
Whereas, the association, through its Elected Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility (PF&R), focuses on the standards and work environments of teaching and research; and
Whereas, one of the standards of academic work environments is an individual faculty member’s freedom to educate in a manner they determine is most appropriate with the curriculum designed for their profession and understanding of the discipline or craft; and
Whereas, the academic freedom of a teacher to speak and associate freely as exemplars of open-mindedness and free inquiry is of utmost importance; and
Whereas, according to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), more than 50 so-called educational gag order (EGO) bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the U.S., including the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee; and
Whereas, educational gag orders restricting training on “prohibited” or “divisive” concepts chill academic and educational discussions and impose government dictates on teaching and learning;
Be it resolved:
- That AEJMC go on record opposing such legislation that creates a chilling effect on academic freedom and freedom of communication;
- That the AEJMC president, working with the Elected Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility, make a public statement about the issue of Educational Gag Order Legislation and the importance of academic freedom;
- That AEJMC, through its Elected Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility, work with organizations such as the AAUP in remaining vigilant on efforts to restrict free speech in the classroom; and
- That AEJMC work with the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC) to develop best practices and guidance for deans, directors and chairs to support faculty in responding to legislation that may impact classroom
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