Rebecca R. Falkoff

Assistant Professor of Italian Studies at UT Austin / author of Possessed (Cornell, 2021) / working on Industrious Skies / Concertina dealer

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

More details on purging of course titles and descriptions at UNT. A reminder: academic freedom is the freedom to teach without state censorship. #FreedomToTeach #FreedomToLearn https://t.co/J3fNPLHCNw

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

The Dean of Students office @UTAustin overrides decision of student conduct board and suspends a leader of PSC who is documented trying to comply with police directives. On a campus that prides itself on its free speech policies. @FIRE

[Lily Kepner @lilykepner]

NEW: An @UTAustin Palestine Solidarity Committee student leader was suspended Wednesday.

After an 11-hour hearing, a student conduct board ruled against issuing a suspension. UT appealed, citing procedural error, and won. The student sued UT in August for alleged 1a violations.

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

⁦“The course that you have embarked on will destabilize the largest college in the university; harm relations w/ faculty, staff & donors; negatively affect recruitment efforts; & cast doubt on UT’s commitment to established principles of governance” https://t.co/ZuT2VlHSVF

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

“Throughout 2024, Texas university leaders scrambled to overcomply with SB 17, the state’s recently passed anti-DEI law…Texas universities got the message and have raced to go above and beyond the strict letter of the law.” Prominently, at UT Austin. https://t.co/RJQcTRTJDV

[Texas Conference of the AAUP @TexasAaup]

⭐️Brian Evans, president of the Texas Conference of the AAUP, said Texas A&M's decision to end its LGBTQ+ studies minor seems to align with a national trend to narrow curriculum, seemingly going against shared governance principles.👇 https://t.co/Bs7OqZZcIm

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

✴️✴️✴️ Faculty! It’s time to finalize syllabi! Here’s some guidance on asserting YOUR academic freedom to teach and research, which is protected under SB 17. Don’t do the censors’ work for them! https://t.co/ZYoqSY81Zg

[American Association of University Professors @AAUP]

This is unacceptable.

[Lily Kepner @lilykepner]

NEW: From @UTAustin spokesperson: “PSC has been placed on interim suspension due to alleged violation of institutional rules. Interim suspension is defined in chapter 11 on the DOS website.” @statesman

[Naina Srivastava @nainazaara]

Hundreds walked out of class to participate in a “teach in” on Main Mall today in response to at least 55 arrests at a pro-Palestine protest on Wednesday.

[M. Sierra-Arévalo @michaelsierraa]

South Mall at UT. Hundreds gathered peacefully to call for a #Ceasefire in #Palestine. #utaustin

[Free Palestine - End All Wars @longjohnshirley]

#UTAustin students and faculty and staff using the #PeoplesMic because the university banned amplified sound today. #FreePalestine #SouthMall

[Lily Kepner @lilykepner]

New: @UTAustin staff member and alum Rhiannon Hamam said she was arrested yesterday at the protest. “I am here to speak to you about her betrayal,” Hamam said. “We have all been betrayed by Jay Hartzell.”

[American Association of University Professors @AAUP]

It’s worth reminding those critical of the student protests raging across the US: Gaza no longer has universities. Every single university in Gaza has been bombed into oblivion. Hundreds of academics, scholars, professors, & students have been killed since Oct. 7. #scholasticide

[Texas Conference of the AAUP @TexasAaup]

The racist and especially anti-Black intentions of Texas’s anti-DEI law SB 17 are clear. ⬇️⬇️

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

“I would view her performance as self-serving and career-saving as opposed to what higher education requires of her, which is a robust defense of academic freedom in service of democracy,” said Irene Mulvey, president of @aaup. https://t.co/NAela4EO6L

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

😎😎This is a very cool community engagement event! So sad that dozens of such @UTAustin community engagement activities have been cancelled due to over-compliance with SB 17. When you find that your favorite UT community activity has been cancelled, thank #TxLege & @JCHartzell

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

We stand in solidarity w/ @UTAustin staff, faculty & students who are stunned by this week’s closures & firings.Especially w/ dedicated staff who lost their jobs after working hard to comply w/ SB17, & students who have lost places & people that helped campus feel like home. 🧡🧡

[AAUP-AFT at UT Austin @aaup_utAustin]

Please read! One of our @TexasExes⁩ shares what #DEI programs ⁦@UTAustin⁩ meant to him, how they have been misconstrued, and how this week’s political purge of staff formerly employed in DEI is on the wrong side of history. #NotOurTexas ⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/ZvOMeUNyp7

[Texas Conference of the AAUP @TexasAaup]

⭐️⭐️A new student group, #NOTOURTEXAS, has come together to protest @UTAustin’s over-implementation of anti-SB17, including the purge of 60 former DEI staff this week. Find them on Instagram. ⬇️⬇️