From the Critical Legal Collective:
Universities across the country are facing pressure from the Trump Administration, and too many are giving in. Some have retaliated against faculty, staff, and students for protected expression. Others have dismantled DEI programs, changed policies, rewritten websites, or redirected resources, hoping no one would notice.
Isn’t it time these universities got the recognition they deserve? CLC thinks so, and it is establishing a Dishonor Roll.
The Dishonor Roll is CLC‘s public list of those who have capitulated to fascism, whether out of fear, calculation, or convenience. It will create a record that exposes them. Faculty know first, and all too well, what their schools are doing, but they often cannot speak out safely. One way to change that is to shine the spotlight on bad actors.
Why wait? Make a nomination today!
Please consider the following non-exhaustive criteria for nomination:
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- Creating a chilling environment. Are faculty, staff, or students self-censoring or being punished for protected expression? Are they discouraged from engaging with “culture war” issues?
- Shutting down or scrubbing DEI programs. Has the institution or an administrator closed, renamed, or quietly erased diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, offices, or web content? Has funding been redirected away from DEI work, with or without announcement?
- Eliminating Critical Race Theory, Gender Studies, or Ethnic Studies initiatives.Has the institution or administrator demanded curriculum changes, shut down programs, or restricted related initiatives?
- Letting the work disappear.Has the work itself vanished? Have clinics, pipelines, programs, centers, or scholarship lines launched only a few years ago been shut down or reduced?
- Policy changes. Are there newly adopted policies or abandoned old ones in response to, or in anticipation of, government and lobbying pressures?
- Overreach and exclusions.Has the institution or its faculty misread the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, treating a ruling about race-conscious admissions as grounds to cut programs, funding, or outreach that the decision does not address?
- Hostile work environment.Has the institution or administrator allowed racist, sexist, homophobic, or other discriminatory speech or interactions? Is bullying or abuse ignored, tolerated, or used to isolate faculty of color, women, and gender-nonconforming community members, or dissenters? Does the school host panels or events lacking racial or gender diversity among invited speakers?
- Undermining promotion, tenure, and faculty governance. Has the institution or administrator changed its policies and practices to weaken faculty governance, job security, academic freedom, and free speech?
Submit your nomination via this form and include verifiable, specific conduct and documentation where you can (e.g., links, archived pages, memos, or announcements). Anyone may make a nomination, and their identity will be kept confidential. CLC‘s Board will evaluate all the nominations and the “Dishonor Roll” will be unveiled at the 2027 AALS Annual Meeting in January. Nominations are due November 15, 2026.