2021 University Film and Video Association
Response to Recent Legislation Limiting Academic Freedom
The University Film and Video Association is a professional organization with over 750 national and international members. UFVA is gravely concerned with threats to academic freedom and integrity, at a time when state legislators are intensifying restrictions on academic freedom and education about race and racism.
UFVA endorses the Joint Statement on Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which opposes “a spate of legislative proposals being introduced across the country that target academic lessons, presentations, and discussions of racism and related issues in American history in schools, colleges and universities.” (See statement here.)
Furthermore, we strongly affirm that universities should not be called upon to implement state sanctioned political agendas determined by legislative fiat. There is no place for political interference with academic practices.
Efforts which seek to impose constraints on academic discourse; or that tie funding to state-approved ideologies and arbitrary standards is both short-sighted and dangerous and threatens the academic freedom that is central to American democracy.
As faculty members affiliated with over 320 universities and institutions, we are committed to fostering inclusive environments for teaching and learning, which respect diversity, inclusion and equity. We do not support legislation, institutions or educational practices that harm the open discourse that is intrinsic to the advancement of human knowledge. As teachers and creators of media that is widely disseminated and broadly inclusive, we condemn legislative actions that will censor our voices as faculty or those of our students.
Christina Lane
President, UFVA