PROTECT FREE SPEECH AND SHARED GOVERNANCE AT ARIZONA'S PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Governor Katie Hobbs

Please sign our petition to Governor Hobbs, asking her to veto several bills that would severely diminish free speech and dissolve shared governance at Arizona’s public universities. Shared governance is the democratic process in which educators, staff, and students, jointly decide the academic activities of the university. Academic freedom is the right of educators and researchers to research and share knowledge and ideas free from government censorship and partisan politics. We are asking Governor Hobbs to veto the following bills:

  • HB2735 & SB1306 - transfer academic program decision-making power away from elected faculty representatives to the un-elected university president and ABOR.

  • HB2178, SB1150, & HB2759 - threaten free speech and shared governance by restructuring how student orgs are funded, potentially defunding the most marginalized student groups.

  • SB1005 - limits free speech by prohibiting university spending on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs that make our universities more accessible to people from marginalized communities.

We ask that you sign on to this petition and share it with your colleagues to make our voices heard. Join us in protecting our democratic rights at our universities!

In solidarity,

Faculty, Staff, and Students at UA, ASU, and NAU


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UCW Arizona

To: Governor Katie Hobbs
From: [Your Name]

Dear Governor Hobbs,

We are witnessing a corrupt power grab by politicians and political appointees that have been entrusted with caring for our public universities. The following bills threaten shared governance and freedom of speech at all public universities in Arizona. These bills aim to eliminate funding for DEI programs and to significantly decrease the influence of existing governing structures like faculty senate, staff council, and student government. Without these structures in place, the Board of Regents — an appointed, not elected, group of decision-makers — would be the ultimate authority on issues that affect all university workers and students. Shared governance and free speech are quintessential components of the democratic process. Without shared governance and strong protection of academic freedom, the crises facing higher education will worsen.

We ask that you oppose the following pieces of undemocratic legislation with your veto:

HB2735 & SB1306 - transfer academic program decision-making power away from elected faculty representatives to the un-elected university president and ABOR.

HB2178, SB1150, & HB2759 - threaten free speech and shared governance by restructuring how student orgs are funded, potentially defunding the most marginalized student groups.

SB1005 - limits free speech by prohibiting university spending on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs that make our universities more accessible to people from marginalized communities.

We, the undersigned university employees, students, and community members, believe that ABOR and university presidents should not have unchecked power to make top-down curricular and programmatic decisions. Shared governance and academic freedom need to be protected to ensure that our public institutions continue to serve us, the public. Don’t let Arizona become the next Florida; we need you to protect higher education in our state by vetoing these bills.