Elon University’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors plans to hold a Day of Action at the Belk Outdoor Theater on Thursday, April 17 to bring attention to recent executive orders targeting higher education.
From 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Elon’s AAUP will present “teach-in” sessions every 30 minutes, taught by professors from various departments, including art history, philosophy, peace and conflict studies, and more.
The Day of Action is a national AAUP event with universities across the U.S. participating. In North Carolina, there are five universities hosting events related to the Day of Action: Elon University, Duke University, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Wake Forest and North Carolina State University.
The American Association of University Professors is a professional organization made up of university professors from across the country. The organization focuses on giving professors a space to organize and share their voices, according to Kaye Usry, Elon professor and vice president of Elon’s chapter of AAUP.
“We collect concerns from our members and communicate those to leadership on campus,” Usry said. “It's our job to advocate for what faculty need, whatever that is, as things come up.”
According to Usry, the national AAUP decided to hold a Day of Action after President Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders targeting higher education. Usry said many of these executive orders have the potential to negatively impact higher education institutions and professors, including the removal of diversity, equity and inclusion policies from university documents, the revoking of student and faculty visas across the country, and the withholding of federal funding from research institutions.
In addition to executive orders directed at higher education, the Trump administration has issued a list of demands Harvard University must meet as a condition for receiving almost $9 billion in grants and contracts — federal money that is being threatened during an investigation into campus antisemitism.
On Monday, April 14, Harvard became the first university to reject the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus. In a letter sent to Harvard’s president on April 10, the administration listed its demands that the university would be required to fulfill to receive almost $9 billion in grants and contracts from the federal government. On April 15, Trump threatened to strip Harvard of its tax-exemption status and has since said it will freeze over $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard.
This is the seventh time the Trump administration has taken actions against colleges and universities in an attempt to force compliance with his political platform. Six of the seven schools are in the Ivy League.
A similar letter was sent to Colombia University, which requires the university to allow government oversight of its Middle East studies department.
The College Cost Reduction Act is one of Usry’s concerns as a professor. If enacted, the act would penalize colleges and universities financially if their students aren't earning a certain amount of money after they graduate. According to Usry, this would incentivize universities to prioritize high-earning fields of study over others, which she said isn’t the purpose of higher education.
The participating universities can choose how they host the Day of Action events, and Usry said Elon chose to hold “teach-in” sessions as a way to create an open space for learning and questions.
“It's a different ethos when it comes to teaching, because you can't assume your audience has read anything to prepare,” Usry said. “There is no reading assignment. And you're assuming that your audience is engaged in the topic because they have chosen to be there.”
Usry said AAUP chose the outdoor theater in Academic Pavillion because it is a visible space and open for students, faculty, staff and community members to stop in and listen.
There are 14 sessions planned for the day with topics ranging from environmental justice to museums.
Each session is hosted by a different professor and is associated with that professor’s area of expertise. Usry said the event will give professors a space to speak about the way the national political climate is impacting their discipline.
“It's intended to get faculty across the country fired up about these issues, to get them in community with each other, sharing information with each other and backing each other up,” Usry said.
Elon's AAUP Day of Action Schedule:
Antisemitism, Deportations, and Attacks on Higher Ed
9:30 a.m.
Geoff Claussen, Religious Studies
Gender Panic: Attacks on Trans and Reproductive Rights
10 a.m.
Ann Cahill, Philosophy
Environmental Justice and the dismantling of EPA policies
10:30 a.m.
Ryan Kirk, Environmental Studies
Project 2025, White Christian Nationalism, and Abolishing the Department of Education
11 a.m.
Andrew Monteith, Religious Studies
Project 2025 and Reproductive Health
11:30 a.m.
Toddie Peters, Religious Studies
The Last Year of Organizing at UNC
Noon
Julian from TransparUNCy
On Freedom and On Tyranny (Timothy Snyder)
12:30 p.m.
Jason Kirk, Political Science and Public Policy
Chinese Students in the US and the Politicization of Education
1 p.m.
Yidi Wu, History
Totalitarianism and Truth
1:30 p.m.
Stephen Bloch-Schulman, Philosophy
Attacks on the Courts and Legal Profession
2 p.m.
Eric Fink, Elon Law
Attacks on Museums, Architecture, & History
2:30 p.m.
Kirstin Ringelberg, Art History
Activism and Organizing on Campus
3 p.m.
Maria Mejia, Philosophy
Funding Higher Ed: Attacks on NEA and NEH Grants
3:30 p.m.
Evan Gatti, Art History
The Public Health Impact of Executive Power
4:30 p.m.
Stephanie Baker, Public Health