California Scholars for Academic Freedom (CS4AF) informally started after 9/11/2001, in a context of raging islamophobia, anti-Arab racism and a closing down of academic freedom, particularly in “Middle East” and related programs in U.S. universities. Scholars began to organize “off the grid” to create a network of support, produce narratives in defense of faculty’s academic freedom, and mobilize existing faculty and legal organizations and their resources in their defense. Around the same time–the early 2000s– some of us were contacted by faculty at Birzeit University in the West Bank, Palestine. They had organized an initiative entitled Right2Education in Palestine, but wanted to build an international network. Some of us agreed to form a branch on the West coast, which we worked on for about a year. However, when conditions for Palestinians and other Middle Easterners and Muslims grew so dire, we decided to segue from the by then moribund Right2Education work to form our own organization. We moved our dozen or so academic members into another group, which we named California Scholars for Academic Freedom, officially forming in 2007.
This new initiative gathered 100 names of academics and scholars in California who wanted to work on issues of academic freedom, and who were committed to or understood the need to defend the rights of academic freedom, not only in Palestine, but around the world. While recognizing that a violation of academic freedom of some would be a violation of freedom for all, we thus expanded our mission. Some members of CS4AF are also active in U.S. Committee for the Cultural and Academic Boycott of Israel (USCCABI) which supports the BDS campaign.
Our now over 200 members from around 20 institutions of higher education in California are also concerned with violations of academic freedom as they regard racial justice, in general, especially in the Black and Latinx communities, with regard to free scientific inquiry addressing climate change and environmental issues, and with labor rights and labor contracts. We have also supported the free speech rights of student organizations on our campuses.
CS4AF has built close relations with relevant organizations that also speak out in support of academic freedom, including Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and Palestine Legal. It has also partnered with the Center for Constitutional Rights, and lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild in some defense cases and initiatives to enforce and advocate for academic freedom rights.
Finally, CS4AF is a pro-union organization. It has developed connections in particular with the California AAUP and the CSU faculty union, California Faculty Association, but also with UC and CC labor unions.
A violation of academic freedom of some would be a violation of freedom for all
CS4AF
CALIFORNIA SCHOLARS FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM 