Last week, the nonprofit College Board, which oversees things like SAT exams and Advanced Placement courses, tentatively waded into the school wars. The board published a new set of principles opposing censorship, supporting academic freedom and, most potently, noting that school bans that affect required subjects for AP courses could result in those classes losing their AP credits. As bans on teaching anything from systemic racism to LGBTQ issues to basic history proliferate around the country, the College Board's statement represents just one way that institutions of higher education are beginning to take a stand.
In mid-February, the Faculty Council of the University of Texas in Austin voted to approve a resolution proactively "affirming the fundamental rights of faculty to academic freedom in its broadest sense, inclusive of research and teaching of race and gender theory." The resolution rejected any efforts to restrict curricula at UT, and called on the school's president to fight any attempts to dictate what professors can teach that might arise down the line.
