Protecting Academic Freedom Home

Threats and harassment refer to any conduct—whether a single act or a pattern of behavior—that seeks to intimidate, coerce, or interfere with a faculty member’s teaching, research, scholarship, or expression of ideas. This includes actions or communications that imply or inflict harm, professional or academic consequences, or create a hostile or unsafe environment.

Such conduct undermines academic freedom when it pressures individuals to alter, limit, or abandon their academic work or participation in scholarly activities due to fear, intimidation, or disruption rather than scholarly judgment.

Targeted Online Harassment & Surveillance: Faculty members are often targeted by websites that monitor classroom comments or social media, leading to organized campaigns aimed at silencing them.

Legislative and Political Interference: State laws restricting teaching on specific topics (e.g., race, history, sexuality) and political/corporate pressures that restrict what can be discussed or researched.

Administrative/Employer Discipline: Firing, punishing, or intimidating faculty for their academic scholarship, in-class teaching, or professional activities.

Weakened Tenure Protection: Increasing reliance on non-tenured staff leaves educators vulnerable to dismissal for their viewpoints.

Hostile Work Environment: Using allegations of misconduct to censor or intimidate faculty members.

Student Incivility and Intimidation: Students acting with entitlement, including disrupting classes, intimidating instructors, or refusing to abide by classroom rules

Criticism is a part of academic life, and most faculty are used to dealing with it at a professional level.  Legitimate criticism engages with ideas, evidence, or methodology and aims to foster discussion or improvement. A threat to academic freedom, by contrast, seeks to intimidate, silence, or pressure scholars to avoid certain topics. The key difference lies in whether the focus is on the work or on controlling the individual.

Members of the UCCS community have the choice to respond to or ignore a critical email and other forms of communications. It is inadvisable to respond to angry, highly partisan emails, and if something reads like a threat to you, take appropriate action.

If you choose to respond to perceived harassment, it is best practice to consult with professionals before: Consult a UCCS communications professional or the media relations team in Strategic Communications for advice on crafting an effective response. Responding to an email or other forms of communication may result in your response being broadcast on social media or other venues. Even if you respond thinking you are in a private conversation, someone can take your response and use it in ways you may not predict or want.