The Ball State University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
February 4, 2025
With current legislative attacks on student and faculty First Amendment rights at the state and federal levels, the Ball State University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is gravely concerned about events on our own campus that signal anticipatory obedience with legislation that is not yet in effect and may never be in effect depending on the legislative and legal process.
On Thursday, January 30th, we became aware that a voluntary faculty professional development session, LGBTQ 101, scheduled for April 16, was paused by Dr. Charlene Alexander, Ball State University’s Chief Strategy Officer. The AAUP Steering Committee directly inquired with Dr. Alexander as to why this session was canceled and received a reply similar to the official statement1 provided by Associate Vice President Greg Fallon in a recent news article:
The session was scheduled nearly three months out on April 16…Amid bills that have been introduced in Indiana’s current legislative session, leadership of the Office of Inclusive Excellence at Ball State felt it was prudent to pause this session until there is further clarity.
We find anticipatory obedience with bills that have been introduced during Indiana’s current legislative session particularly alarming, as these bills 1.) have not yet passed; 2.) will likely face multiple revisions before the final voting session; and 3.) will likely carry an implementation date of July 1, 2025, should they pass. Instead of standing to protect the freedom of expression and intellectual diversity on campus and using the university’s lobbying and legal resources to oppose these bills, Ball State’s administration is already capitulating to bills that are not current law.
In January 2025, the National AAUP released an official statement, “Against Anticipatory Obedience,” citing the University of Chicago’s Kalven Report, which states,
From time to time instances will arise in which the society, or segments of it, threaten the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry. In such a crisis, it becomes the obligation of the university as an institution to oppose such measures and actively to defend its interests and its values.
The statement continues: “It is the higher education community’s responsibility not to surrender to such attacks—and not to surrender in anticipation of them.” However, Ball State University’s administration is signaling surrender to bills that have not yet passed to the detriment of our student and faculty body, as well as the broader community. We must remind Ball State University’s administration that there has never been a time where complicity to authorities seeking to strip away the rights of free inquiry and expression has led to a special exception for the capitulators. We call on Ball State University to stand firmly against the coming onslaught against higher education, as the dismantling of free inquiry will lead to the continued dismantling of our rights.
1 The ultimate source of the decision to pause this session is currently unclear, as Mr. Fallon references the leadership of the Office of Inclusive Excellence, while Dr. Alexander specifies that she made the decision in her response to the Steering Committee’s email. The explanation of why the session was canceled and who among Ball State administration made the decision has shifted since January 30, with President Mearns stating on January 31 that advertising of the session was paused, while Mr. Fallon and Dr. Alexander have stated that the session itself is paused.