How Elite Colleges Aided Censorship During the Red Scares

"When I saw the Association of American Universities' rejection of the White House's "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," I knew that the institutions invited to join the agreement were likely to reject it, too. At a time when organizational communication seems to be the province of PR firms, it is still true that a missive from a group representing some of our country's most prestigious research institutions carries substantial weight in U.S. higher education."

"The joint statement between the American Association of University Professors and what is now the American Association of Colleges and Universities on academic freedom in the 1940s remains the touchstone of faculty and researchers' rights in our institutions (even though the AAUP generally didn't come to the aid of targeted professors during the Red Scares). What gets less attention is the role of the AAU in America's history of academic censorship."

The Association of American Universities rejected the White House's Compact for Academic Excellence and warned against any compact that could damage the nation's competitive, merit-based system of research grant funding. The AAU's concise statement carried substantial influence across U.S. higher education and likely signaled that invited institutions would decline the agreement. The American Association of University Professors' 1940s joint statement remains the touchstone for faculty and researchers' rights, despite the AAUP's limited aid to targeted professors during the Red Scares. The AAU has at times provided productive leadership for higher education while also prioritizing the interests of its elite member institutions. The AAU's historical role in American academic censorship receives less attention compared with its contemporary defense of research funding principles.

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