Inside Higher Ed: Are You Now or Have You Ever…
If you want to take a job at some public universities in Ohio, you’ll need to fill out a form declaring that you have no ties (as described in six broad questions) to any terrorist groups as defined by the U.S. State Department.
The form was created this year by Ohio law and applies to all new employees of state agencies. The universities that are starting to have new employees fill out the forms say that they are just following the law. But the American Association of University Professors says that the forms are even broader than McCarthy-era loyalty oaths, are unconstitutional, and “gravely” threaten academic freedom.
In a letter sent to the president of the University of Akron, one of the institutions starting to use the forms, the AAUP said that asking potential faculty members to certify that they have never provided any help to any such group threatens “a broad range of clearly protected free speech and academic freedom.” The letter was sent on the AAUP’s behalf by Robert M. O’Neil, a professor of law at the University of Virginia and director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.
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