A Letter to MLA Members about Emergency Motion 2024-1
On 4 March 2024, the MLA Executive Council sent the following email to MLA members.
Dear Colleagues:
The Delegate Assembly meeting in January 2024 was an example of the democratic governance of the association in action. Emergency Motion 2024-1, focused on defending academic freedom and the right to protest on our campuses, was amended on the floor in a collegial process, producing a final text that secured the support of a vast majority of the delegates present. That motion asked the Executive Council to urge campus administrators to defend the right to speech and the right to protest of all faculty members, staff members, and students, particularly those who have been targeted for speaking out against Israel’s violence in Gaza.
At its recent meeting, following the process outlined in the MLA constitution, the MLA Executive Council discussed the critical issues raised by the emergency motion and by individual members who have reached out to share their experiences and concerns. Many of the letters from our members have indicated that campus attacks on the basis of religious or cultural identity as Jews or as Arabs, as well as on the basis of political position, are rising sharply.
As an organization, our support of academic freedom is unwavering. We also support our members’ right to protest and their right to feel safe on their own campuses. The current political climate in the United States has resulted in restrictions on free speech and on the right to protest on campus, especially restrictions directed at opponents of the actions of Israel against civilians in Gaza. Many MLA members have reported suffering harassment, doxing, and threats related to their teaching, writing, and speech on issues related to Palestine. US campuses must defend all faculty members, staff members, and students, particularly those who have been targeted for speaking out against the actions of Israel in Gaza, from these threats, which often originate outside the university.
Campus intimidation is not unique to this context – members have been grappling with legislation that targets teaching about race and gender as well as with donor influence on hiring and other issues. The MLA has long gathered and shared resources that administrators, department chairs and program leaders, and individual faculty members need in order to defend academic freedom and the right to protest.
The MLA provides and will continue to provide ways for our members to be in conversation with one another on these vital topics. The Executive Council is organizing a webinar on strategies for defending our rights to teach and to protest and is calling for submissions for a special issue of the MLA’s open access publication Profession on fighting back against the current climate of hostility on so many of our campuses. Articles could address questions like these: How can we in our teaching and campus work engage deeply with the political and cultural complexities with which our students are wrestling, challenges that are interrelated and overlapping? How can the skills we learn in the study of language, literature, writing, and culture help us unpack and teach the nuances of divisive political questions? What do we do when confronted with contradictory arguments that all have compelling elements? What are effective strategies for dealing with donors who want control in exchange for their money?
MLA members are already speaking out in many ways: as individuals, as members of their campus communities, and as members of organizations like AAUP. In inviting contributions for this issue of Profession, we want to call on your particular expertise and share strategies for action with your colleagues. The Executive Council urges you to consider contributing to this issue as a way to help shape the work of your profession. To submit an essay, please email achang@mla.org.
Sincerely,
The MLA Executive Council