AEJMC Resolution Three 2023
Learn From History Resolution
News Release:
August 30, 2023
CONTACT:
Samantha Higgins, AEJMC Communications Director, 803-798-0271
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 Three:
Whereas, history plays a key role in helping students of all ages avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, succeed in diversity workplaces and create a better society; and
Whereas, a multicultural journalism history, in particular, is a requirement for journalism and mass communication programs to remain in compliance with the Curriculum standards for the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications; and
Whereas, as educators, the members of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) believe wholeheartedly that it is essential to provide students with a fact-based history education while teaching them to reject racism and respect the equal value of every person; and
Whereas, it is a fact that racism played a significant role in our past, and sadly continues to be widespread and harmful to us all; and
Whereas, the members of AEJMC in 2022 passed a resolution opposing education gag orders or legislation restricting topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion; and
Whereas, the members of AEJMC in 2022 also passed a resolution supporting educators responding to any legislation that bans or limits discussions of so-called “divisive concepts” and topics such as Critical Race Theory in the classroom; and
Whereas, with organizations such as the American Historical Association, The National Association for Media Literacy Education, and the Organization of American Historians among its members, the Learn from History coalition seeks to combat deliberate misinformation about the current state of history education and the ways that historians write about and teach the centrality of racism in the evolution of American institutions; and
Whereas, removing parts of a society’s history amounts to censorship; and
Whereas, the AEJMC has been a longstanding advocate for The First Amendment and free expression; and
Now, therefore, be it resolved that AEJMC as an organization joins the nearly 30 organizations that are part of the Learn from History Coalition, which exists solely to facilitate broad-based effective communication about the vital importance of students learning thorough, accurate and fact-based history while demonstrating the harm of restricting what is taught in the classroom;
Be it further resolved that working through its Standing Committee on Professional Freedom and Responsibility and units such as the History Division and Commission on the Status of Minorities, AEJMC designates a “Learn From History liaison” to participate in Learn from History meetings and serve as a point of contact for education initiatives that warrant future action by AEJMC and its members.
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