Defending Campus and Schools Expression

The AAUP and AFT have organized a national campaign resisting the Trump attacks on our campuses, to engage faculty, staffs, students and alumni The call is for teach-ins on the first Fridays of the month leading up to a national event on Friday May 1, 2026. Many college and university campuses lack active AAUP chapters or AFT locals. However, many Peace and Justice advocacy groups have members or supporters on local campuses. To advance the Days of Action Campaign the Books Not Bombs Committee is hosting a series of Zoom Teach-ins. The fifth in our Zoom Teach-ins will be Friday April 3, 4-5 pm.

– Welcome and Our Tasks- Owen Madaus (Books Not Bombs Committee);

– Plans for May Day in Mass, Friday May 1, 2026 – Jeremy Shenk & Liz Eng (AFTMA);

– Protecting Campus Speech – Prof. Isaac Kamola (AAUP Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom); 

– Pressing Urban School Budget Issues – Erik Berg (Pres. Boston Teachers Union);

– Ongoing Student Organizing on Campuses – Hannah Markel, Jessica Valatka (UMass, Amherst);

– Promoting Free Speech in Mass Public Schools – Dr. Aaron Shakow (Concerned Jewish Faculty and Staff);

– Key Budget & Education debates in the MA State Legislature, Including Proposed Referenda – Harris Gruman (SEIU1199);

– Opposing Supplementary Funding for War –Jonathan King (Mass Peace Action Ed Fund and MIT AAUP));

 –  Publicity and Outreach for May Day events.