Scholars at Risk conference examines pressures facing U.S. higher education and commemorates 25 years of protecting academic freedom worldwide
Posted October 2, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NEW YORK, NY — Scholars at Risk (SAR), an international network dedicated to protecting scholars and promoting academic freedom, will host a U.S. Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference on October 9-10, 2025, at New York University. The two-day event will bring together domestic and international experts to examine escalating pressures on academic freedom and inform efforts to develop greater protections for scholars, students, and academic freedom, in the US and beyond.
Experts from PEN America, the AAUP Center for Academic Freedom, the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, Education4All, and other leading US and global organizations will offer guidance on recent challenges to higher education. SAR’s recently released Free to Think 2025 report outlines some of these challenges, emphasizing both persistent violent threats to higher education in authoritarian contexts and an increase in attacks in liberal contexts, including, most dramatically, in the United States.
“Academic freedom is essential to democracy, yet at this moment, academic freedom and universities are facing threats like we haven’t seen in decades,” said Rob Quinn, Executive Director of Scholars at Risk. “It’s vital for the higher education sector and the public to come together and consider what kind of society we want to live in. Do we want a society where decisions on complex, life-changing questions are made based on facts, evidence, and reasoned persuasion, or one where decisions that affect people’s lives are based on egos and ideology, and imposed through violence, coercion, and harassment? This conference is an urgent opportunity to share lessons from our global network, but also to fortify our collective commitment to protecting everyone’s freedom to think, question, and share ideas.”
The conference will open with an examination of these pressures through a global and historical lens, asking participants to consider: “What is new? What have we seen before? What can we learn?” Conversations will address not only pressures on inclusive higher education, but also ongoing efforts to respond to them, and how advocates can apply lessons from home and abroad to develop urgent and long-term strategies to protect academic freedom.
A highlight of the event will be an evening reception, officially kicking off a year-long celebration of Scholars at Risk’s 25th anniversary. The event will be an opportunity to reflect on SAR’s achievements and celebrate what we have built together: a global academic freedom movement strong enough to meet the challenges ahead.
About Scholars at Risk: Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of higher education institutions dedicated to protecting threatened scholars and promoting academic freedom.
Media Contact: Prachi Patel, Communications Officer, Scholars at Risk prachi.patel@nyu.edu. Please register to attend as a member of the press.