SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.

Date of Incident: June 05, 2026

Attack Types: Other

Institution(s):Auburn University

Region & Country:Americas | United States of America

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On June 5, 2026, the Auburn University Board of Trustees unanimously approved two policies that weaken the faculty’s role in university governance and curricular decisions.

The Board is made up of the governor of the state and 15 others appointed by a committee chaired by the governor. The first policy gives the Board authority to review and approve individual courses, curricula, and degree requirements. The second policy dissolves the existing Faculty Senate and replaces it with a Presidential Academic Advisory Council. Whereas the Faculty Senate included a representative from every one of the dozens of departments at the university, the new Presidential Academic Advisory Council will have two faculty representatives from each of the university’s 13 colleges—one elected by the faculty and one appointed by Auburn University’s president. The policy also notes that the Council shall include “additional members appointed by the President, who may include faculty or nonfaculty members whose expertise, institutional role, or perspective would assist the Council’s work.” The Auburn University AAUP wrote in a statement that the two policies had been passed without “meaningful faculty input.”

Scholars at Risk is concerned about state interference in higher education governance and operations, including measures that shift governance and academic decision-making from institutional leaders and faculty to political appointees. While state authorities have a legitimate role in oversight, particularly in the use of state funds, they also have a responsibility to refrain from interfering in academic and operational decisionmaking. Elevating the role of political appointees in decisions about curriculum and reducing the role of faculty in university governance creates new avenues for political interference in the university’s functions, severely undermining university autonomy, academic freedom and free expression.

Sources:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/trustees-regents/2026/06/05/auburn-board-takes-curricular-control-dissolves-senate
https://alabamareflector.com/2026/06/09/auburn-university-trustees-dissolve-faculty-senate-take-more-direct-curriculum-control/
https://aumpub.cfmnetwork.com/B.aspx?BookId=15112&PageId=479844
https://auburnpub.cfmnetwork.com/B.aspx?BookId=15113&PageId=479845