AAUP Statement on cancellation of Black Alumni Weekend and Celebrate Women events
The Ohio University chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) condemns the recent cancellation of Ohio University’s Black Alumni Weekend and Celebrate Women on the Lancaster campus. University leadership’s decision to cancel these events reflects a disturbing pattern of anticipatory obedience when diversity, equity, and inclusion is under attack, and sends a message to many students, faculty, staff, and alumni that Ohio University is not a place for them.
As our national organization has already stated, “troubling recent events suggest that some administrations are not only acquiescing to attacks on fundamental principles but engaging in what scholars of authoritarianism call anticipatory obedience—that is, they are acting to comply in advance of any pressure to do so.” Ohio University chose to cancel these events when there was no legal obligation to do so. Although the Ohio legislature is considering SB 1, which would forbid diversity, equity, and inclusion on campuses of Ohio public universities, this bill is not law. Ohio University was in no way required to cancel these events, but chose to do so anyway. (source: https://www.aaup.org/report/against-anticipatory-obedience)
Additionally, these decisions by university leadership mainly have been taken in an atmosphere of vacillation and lack of clarity and transparency. At the Faculty Senate meeting just days before making this decision, President Gonzalez had signaled, if not resistance, at least hesitance until legal compulsion would require her to obey, and implied that there would be no changes until either the university received further guidance regarding the “Dear Colleague” letter from the U.S. Department of Education, or the passage and signing into law of Senate Bill 1. Instead, this decision came as a sudden surprise to the organizers, planners, and attendees of upcoming events.
In contrast, other peer institutions facing pressure have responded in ways to protect their communities, as pointed out in the letter from The Ohio State Black Alumni Society (OSUBAS), and quoted below:
University of Michigan: Has maintained its commitment to DEI, restructuring programs where necessary to comply with legal interpretations, but avoiding wholesale elimination of offices and staff. They've focused on reframing initiatives to emphasize opportunity for all students while still providing targeted support.
University of Texas at Austin: While adapting to state legislation (SB 17 in Texas, similar to Ohio's SB1), UT Austin has worked to retain core DEI functions within existing structures, ensuring continued support for student success and a welcoming campus climate. They have sought to comply with the letter of the law without abandoning the spirit of inclusion.
University of Florida: While complying with state regulations, Florida has maintained many of its student support services that were under the former multicultural affairs department, providing a continuity of service to the students, staff and faculty there.
As they have also pointed out, decisions like the ones taken as OSUBAS and here at Ohio University will have negative and lasting impacts on faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the community. We urge everyone, directly affected to not, to make their voices heard to university leadership, to call their state representatives, and keep up with news and updates - the Ohio State University Black Alumni Society has modeled an effective way to act. You can be find them on social media here (IG, LinkedIn, Facebook) on social media.
What we need at Ohio University is brave leadership, and we’re not getting it now. We need our leaders to stand up for our communities, not cancel them.