Advocacy

Joy Connolly details political attacks on higher education, including a censorship review process at Texas Tech University, and urges renewed advocacy for academic freedom.

ACLS joined ACE and 37 other higher education associations in submitting a comment letter to the Department of Education.

Joy Connolly outlines how attacks on tenure, academic freedom, and international exchange threaten the vitality of higher education and our democracy.

ACLS launches Defending the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (DASSH) to mobilize scholars and allies in support of academic freedom and humanistic knowledge.

Princeton GradFUTURES Fellow Kim Akano shares about the many different approaches to “advocacy” taking place amongst ACLS academic societies and peer organizations.

Joy Connolly shares how ACLS is standing with scholars and societies defending academic freedom and humanistic inquiry against censorship, defunding, and political interference.

The letter calls for university leaders to stand up against the compact and urges collective action.

Joy Connolly shares how ACLS, our member societies and institutions, and scholars are opposing federal overreach in higher education and championing humanistic knowledge.

ACLS President Joy Connolly shares the danger of institutions signing the White House Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.

ACLS President Joy Connolly shares an update related to campus censorship.

ACLS President Joy Connolly shares an update on assaults on higher education and public history, and how ACLS is responding.

Statement on ruling issued July 25, 2025.

ACLS Director of Member Society Relations Camilo Villalpando shares an advocacy update from learned societies.

ACLS President Joy Connolly shares updates on current events impacting higher education.

Read statements from ACLS member societies responding to recent actions targeting the humanities, social sciences, and higher education.

President Joy Connolly shares updates on ACLS advocacy efforts.

The statement pushes back against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference endangering American higher education.

ACLS has issued a statement with the Council of Graduate Schools and The Phi Beta Kappa Society.

ACLS, the American Association of Colleges and Universities, and the Phi Beta Kappa Society affirm our support for free inquiry and expression at the Smithsonian Institution.

ACLS President Joy Connolly writes that it’s time to stand up together and build alliances, and shares how ACLS is responding to attacks on higher education and the humanities.

In The Chronicle of Higher Education, ACLS President Joy Connolly calls for unity and collaboration among higher education institutions in response to the current political climate.

ACLS has issued a joint statement with The Phi Beta Kappa Society.

We bring you several recent developments affecting the humanities and social sciences and our thinking about constructive responses.