LSU’s Memorial Tower pictured on March 20, 2023. (Matthew Perschall/Louisiana Illuminator)
A survey of higher education faculty in the South found that professors are increasingly worried about political interference in higher education, with 80% of respondents ranking the political atmosphere surrounding colleges and universities as poor or very poor.
The survey of approximately 3000 faculty members was conducted in August by the chapters of the American Association of University Professors in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. They found that professors are deeply dissatisfied with the state of higher education in the South and are looking for employment in non-southern states. The political climate around higher education was a top reason for faculty to consider leaving.
“An overall climate of fear of retaliation and mistrust is the worst I’ve seen in over 20 years in academia,” an assistant professor at a public university in Texas reported. Faculty identities were not disclosed in the AAUP survey results.
Of the 3,000 respondents, 40 were from Louisiana.
About 65% of faculty surveyed across the South said they would not recommend their state as a desirable place to work, while about a third are considering interviewing for jobs outside of their state in the coming year. In Louisiana, 67.5% of faculty said they wouldn’t recommend working at the state’s schools, with approximately half reporting they are considering interviewing elsewhere.
Faculty who are considering leaving cited salary as their top reason, followed by the state’s political climate and attacks on academic freedom. Another 60% of applicants expressed disappointment in their school’s administration for not adequately defending academic freedom and tenure.
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In addition to higher education-specific concerns, such as attacks on tenure and removal of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, some faculty cited anti-LGBTQ+ laws and abortion bans among their reasons for wanting to leave the South.
LSU scrubbed diversity language from its website one business day before Landry was to be inaugurated. Legislation to ban DEI practices in Louisiana stalled in the Legislature this year but is likely to come back next year.
Louisiana faculty cited Gov. Jeff Landry’s interest in higher education as a top concern. The governor supported legislation that gave him more power over higher education governing boards , and personally endorsed a fellow conservative as president of Northwestern State University . Landry also asked universities to strip scholarships from athletes not present during the national anthem and signed a bill requiring the 10 Commandments be posted in all university classrooms.
“Louisiana’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, has been publicly hostile towards faculty,” one professor wrote.
Landry sought to have former LSU mass communications professor Bob Mann punished for criticizing one of his assistant attorney generals who attended an LSU Faculty Senate meeting to read a letter from Landry containing COVID-19 misinformation.
“This Spring we will likely have to teach in classrooms with the Ten Commandments exhibited. I hope to work it into my teaching on the social construction of law, but it’s still an infringement on academic freedom,” another Louisiana professor said. “Just today I saw that teaching critical race theory has been outlawed in K-12 education, and I worry that higher education may be next.”
“It feels very much like we’re all just keeping our heads underground and hoping the current administration in the state forgets we exist as they turn their attention to the state’s flagship university instead,” another Louisiana professor wrote.
Landry spokeswoman Kate Kelly has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The survey also revealed the political environment around higher education in the South has a detrimental effect on faculty hiring.
About 50% of respondents noted a decrease in the number of applicants for open professor positions as well as more candidates hesitant to proceed with the interview processes. In Louisiana, 92.5% of respondents reported challenges with their hiring process.
One-third of those surveyed said they don’t plan to stay in academia long term.
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