Reflections on AAUP v. Rubio
by Suzanne Kaufman
Today’s ruling in AAUP v. Rubio is a milestone for academic freedom and free speech.
Brought forward by AAUP chapters at Harvard, NYU, and Columbia, along with the Middle East Studies Association, the case challenged government efforts to punish non-citizen students and scholars for their political views. The federal court agreed that the attempted deportations of Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk were indeed flagrantly unconstitutional and reaffirmed that the First Amendment applies to all members of our academic community, regardless of nationality.
Judge William Young’s conclusion could not be clearer:
“For all these reasons, this Court finds … that Secretaries Noem and Rubio … acted in concert to misuse the sweeping powers of their respective offices to target non-citizen pro-Palestinians for deportation primarily on account of their First Amendment protected political speech. … Moreover, the effect of these targeted deportation proceedings continues unconstitutionally to chill freedom of speech to this day.”
At Loyola, our mission calls us toward social justice, inclusive inquiry, and humane engagement with the world. We stand with those whose voices are threatened, and we affirm that all scholars – citizens and non-citizens – deserve the protections of academic freedom. Let us use this moment not only to celebrate but to strengthen our commitment to a campus where the free expression of ideas can flourish without fear.
We invite all our colleagues to join Loyola’s AAUP chapter and help defend the principles that make our university a community of free inquiry. For membership inquiries, contact Alice Weinreb: aliceaut@gmail.com
Suzanne Kaufman is associate professor of European history at Loyola University Chicago. She teaches the second half of Loyola’s core course in western civilization as well as courses on modern France, women’s and gender history and the history of European colonialism and empire building. She has longstanding interests in social theory and historical method and teaches the required historical methods courses for undergraduate and graduate students in history.
luc aaup’s site
by Jacob Henry Leveton
This fall, our Loyola AAUP chapter launched a new website: AAUP-LUC.org/
The site is both a hub and a signal: a place to connect and a statement of our commitments.
It makes visible, accessible, and enduring our shared work for academic freedom, equity, and shared governance.
Our mission is framed with clarity: to organize, to defend, and to transform—for truth, justice, and the common good.
Visitors can explore our work to Advocate for faculty, Organize through teach-ins and coalitions, Defend rights and governance, and Imagine new futures for higher education.
The site’s Design Philosophy is intentional: Loyola-rooted yet nationally aligned with AAUP’s mission. Its visual language draws on our Ignatian values and is grounded in landmarks such as the Madonna della Strada Chapel, representing our dual commitments to tradition and transformation.
Our aim is to bring faculty together across ranks, offer a space of solidarity and care, and affirm that academic freedom is non-negotiable.
We invite all colleagues to visit, learn more, and join us in this work of sustaining academic life at Loyola. For membership inquiries, contact Alice Weinreb (aliceaut@gmail.com)
Jacob Henry Leveton is Part-Time Instructor in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Loyola University Chicago, where he teaches courses in Art History, Visual Culture, and Critical Theory. He is Secretary of the LUC AAUP Chapter and edits the non-standard, a weekly paper for experimentation in the materialisms of the present.
This post originally appeared as the AAUP Corner of the monthly Loyola University Chicago Faculty Council Newsletter on Sep. 26, 2025.