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The Champions of Higher Education, a PEN America-led collaboration, aims to rally public support for colleges and universities and against politically-motivated government restrictions on higher education institutions

(NEW YORK) Today, PEN America launched a new initiative alongside more than a hundred former higher education presidents and system heads to defend higher education against a barrage of state legislation and policies that seek to restrict campus free expression and college and university autonomy.

The new effort, Champions of Higher Education, counts among its ranks 118 former college and university presidents and chancellors committed to rallying public support against political and legislative attempts to silence discussion of core issues, politicize curricula, and exacerbate campus divisions. The number of former higher education leaders involved grows larger each day. PEN America brought together this initiative in collaboration with Campus Compact.

United by a shared vision of American higher education as an essential pillar of democracy, the former campus leaders represent colleges and universities large and small across the nation, from red states and blue states, and from every region of the country 36 states in all. They include a former Republican congressman and lieutenant governor, a former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a former Undersecretary of Education and two former Assistant Secretaries of Education, and a winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Following todays launch, the leaders will coordinate an intensive national and local communications and coalition-building effort through speaking engagements in communities where they have influence and by drawing on their relationships with legislators and business, legal, military, medical, and cultural leaders to activate powerful new advocates to fight political interference and government overreach on campus.

College campuses are the essential training grounds where the next generation is equipped with the tools to inhabit, strengthen and sustain our democracy, said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America. But our nations proud tradition of academic excellence has been undermined in recent years by threats to campus free expression emanating from both the left and the right. Today, free expression on our campuses is under siege by both an escalating penchant for censoriousness on the left and an organized political campaign on the right bent on undermining the intellectual freedom and independence of Americas higher education system. We need champions across every sector determined to uphold free speech on campus. No group is better suited to take on that challenge than this extraordinary collection of higher education leaders.

The launch of the Champions of Higher Education should put the censors on notice, said Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN America and lead organizer of the initiative. Higher education is not defenseless. It has its champions, all across the country, who have committed to support campus free expression and institutional autonomy, and to promote an affirmative vision of higher education as one of the crowning achievements of American democracy. Their efforts serve to combat the rising tide of censorious legislation and to restore Americas commitment to intellectual freedom in higher education.

As former campus and system leaders, each of us understands that educational independence and freedom of expression and thought are the lifeblood of our higher education system, said Richard Guarasci, president emeritus of Wagner College. The legislative efforts to politicize our classrooms and chill discussion of our nations history and enduring challenges are an existential threat to the mission and integrity of the entire higher education sector a threat we pledge to meet on behalf of the sector as a whole.

Today, college administrators and educators are under relentless political pressure, forced to choose between their commitment to academic freedom and their jobs, said Brian Murphy, president emeritus of De Anza College. As former college and university leaders, the Champions of Higher Education will do everything in our power to help free campuses from these political constraints and ensure that every student is empowered with the gifts of knowledge, discovery, and robust debate that our higher education institutions provide.

I am proud to endorse the Champions of Higher Education initiative, said Bobbie Laur, President of Campus Compact. This project had its origins in conversations convened jointly by PEN America and Campus Compact, and I am thrilled that this group of former presidents and system heads will be working together in the coming months to combat efforts to censor learning and restrict free expression on campuses and ensure that civic education and engagement remain centered and possible.

You can read more about the Champions of Higher Education Initiative and view the full list of signatories by visiting pen.org/champions-statement. The initiative is still recruiting former presidents and system heads to join its ranks; if you are interested in participating, contact Jeremy C. Young at [emailprotected]

In launching this nonpartisan initiative, PEN America is grateful for the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, and the Henry R. Luce Foundation. The work of the Champions of Higher Education does not reflect the views or positions of these foundations.

About PEN America

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.

Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [emailprotected], 201-247-5057

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118 Former Higher Education Presidents Launch Initiative to ... - PEN America

"Why would anyone be afraid of a book? There are guns and snakes and all kinds of other stuff for sale that could actually kill you."

Why are people afraid of books? Mac asks this very question in "Attack of the Black Rectangles" by Amy Sarig King.

Mac and his friends, Denis and Marci, have just started sixth grade and have Laura Samuel Sett as their teacher. Ms. Sett has opinions on a lot of things and is very vocal in her support of her ideas. She has managed to change the tone of the town. There are curfews and limits on what color you can paint your house. There is no Halloween or junk food. There are rules for everything.

The kids are given the book "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen to read in class. As they are reading this book about the Holocaust, they notice that two pages have words blacked out. A copy of the book from the local bookstore reveals what was removed and it makes the kids angry and confused. Why does someone not want them to read those words?

Mac talks to his mom and grandpa about the issue and even writes a letter to Jane Yolen. However, Mac, Denis and Marci choose to solve the problem themselves. They approach their principal, who gives them the brush off. They then take their case to the school board and start a protest. The adults in authority seem to think there is nothing wrong with blacking out a few words. They still get to read the book. That isn't censorship, right?

What this book does really well is talk about the different types of censorship. The adults in this book are not banning the entire book. They are allowing kids to read it, just not the way the author intended. This is a different type of censorship and a more silent one that probably happens more often than we think.

This story is based on a real experience of the author, which makes it even more interesting. The passages that were blacked out of "The Devil's Arithmetic" seem innocent and in the context of the story are definitely not something that is titillating or shocking.

Ms. Sett is not an evil character. She genuinely believes that what she is doing is best for the town and for her students. Mac doesn't dislike her despite the blacked out books. She helps him when he is going through a difficult time with his absent father. Ms. Sett is a teacher and someone people like and respect, which gives her a lot of power. How she chooses to use that power is the debate of the book.

As Mac says, the truth can set you free even if it makes you uncomfortable or sad. Books are a window into other worlds and give insight into situations we may not experience ourselves. They can teach us sympathy and empathy and broaden our world views. Some people find that scary. Others find that exactly what they need.

Angie Bayne is the Assistant Director of Public Services atMissouri River Regional Library.

Read more from the original source:
From the Stacks: New novel demonstrates different types of censorship - Jefferson City News Tribune

At a glance.

The New York Timesreportsthat US authorities are investigating an apparent leak of sensitive information concerning plans for US support of Ukraine. The files have been circulated in Twitter and Telegram by Russian accounts. A significant fraction of the information seems genuine (although some at least of that could be inferred from publicly known open sources), and genuine enough to prompt an investigation. Other data, notably casualty estimates, appear to have been falsified in the Russian interest (with Russian casualties understated, and Ukrainian casualties exaggerated) and these seem to represent an admixture of disinformation, which may be the principal point of their publication. Ukraine characterized them as "Russian disinformation," the Telegraphreports. US Newsdescribesthe Russian reaction, which is to publicly denounce the leaks as US disinformation designed to peddle a false story of Ukrainian unreadiness, designed to lull Russian forces into a false sense of security. And, citing analysts at Mandiant, SCreportsreasons for thinking that the leaked files, whatever their source, have been altered in the Russian interest. Altered or not, the Pentagon is treating them as apparently genuine, officialstellthe Washington Post.

And for the most part the leaks appear to be authentic. The US Departments of Defense and Justice areboth investigating, but neither Department is so far providing much in the way of information on the investigations. The material appeared to considerable clat last week in Russian social media channels, although at least some it may have been in low-key circulation in fringe sites for some weeks: the Wall Street Journalreportsthat it "began among a small group of posters on a messaging channel that trafficked in memes, jokes and racist talk."

The Washington Post has investigated the Discord Papers, as they're now being called, by going to the obvious place: the Discord group where the intelligence documents were first posted. The leaks came through a small, invitation-only clubhouse (Thug Shaker Central") established on Discord in 2020. Its members were apparently looking for fellowship and diversion during the pandemic, and found it among a collection of military wannabes who shared a willingness to engage in casual, low-grade racist humor and fantasies about conspiracies.

The leader of the clubhouse, a young man with the derivative handle "OG," is described as a "young, charismatic gun enthusiast who shared highly classified documents with a group of far-flung acquaintances searching for companionship amid the isolation of the pandemic." OG told his followers, who seem to have been disproportionately teenage boys, that he worked on a "military base" that he declined to identify, and that he spent his days working with classified material in a secure facility. The two youths with whom the Post spoke (one of whom they interviewed with the permission of his mother, which indicates how young the members of the group are) say they know OG's real name, the state in which he works, and that he's in his early-to-mid twenties.

NBC News reports that the incident is prompting the US Government to review the way it monitors social media for security threats. The intelligence community is now grappling with how it can scrub platforms like Discord in search of relevant material to avoid a similar leak in the future, said [a] congressional official." How that might be accomplished is under study; the solution isn't obvious.

Russia's attempts to normalize the occupation and annexation of Ukrainian territory continue. "On 5 April 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a full session of Russias Security Council, the first such event since October 2022," the UK's MoD reported Sunday. "The main report was presented by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, and discussed reconstruction, law enforcement and public order in the illegally-annexed areas of Ukraine. The choice of Kolokoltsev as the main speaker is likely an attempt by the Kremlin to portray the situation in those territories as being normalised. In reality, much of the area remains an active combat zone, subject to partisan attacks, and with extremely limited access to basic services for many citizens."

The Russian cyber auxiliary KillNet claimed it had conducted a massive attack on NATO infrastructure this past weekend.It claimed responsibility for alleged DDoS attacks on various organizations in the energy grid on itsTelegrampage today. Along with the DDoS attack it alsopublisheda list of usernames and passwords for two Nato commands on its website.KillNet wrote The personnel are using super secret passwords: the incredibly complex - 123456, and the more complex 12345678.If the passwords are legitimate it shows that at least two people didnt take their Cyber Awareness training seriously enough.As if that wasnt enough, a KillNet member also posted an image of an unnamed news source explaining that KillNet had signed 150 unnamed Nato personnel up for various dating websites in Ukraine and Moldova. (The image looks bogus, so interpret it simply as a claim by KillNet.) The affected "NATO infrastructure" appears to be NATO School Oberammergau, an instructional facility in southern Germany, and not any operational or high-level administrative organization. The CyberWire wrote to NATO asking for comment, and a NATO official responded as follows:

Cyberspace is contested at all times, and we face malicious cyber activity on a daily basis. NATO takes this very seriously. We remain vigilant and continue to adapt to evolving threats. NATO and Allies are strengthening our ability to detect, prevent and respond to such activities.

We are currently experiencing Denial of Service attempts against a number of NATO websites, and our experts are responding. NATOs classified networks are not affected and there is no impact on NATO operations.

Thus claims that KillNet had disabled some 60% of NATOs electronic infrastructure seem vastly overstated. NATO School Oberammergau, the most commonly mentioned victim of DDoS, is not, we note, an operational command.

The Atlantic Counciloffers some contextfor reports of Russian public opinion about the war. It's difficult to gauge. "A ruthless clampdown has made it increasingly difficult and dangerous for dissenting voices to be heard. Nevertheless, opposition figures continue to question the true levels of public backing for the invasion, while insisting that large numbers of Russians are either opposed or indifferent. The real situation within Russian society is certainly far more complex than the Kremlin would like us to believe, but todays suffocating atmosphere means there is little reason to expect an increase in visible anti-war activity any time soon." The piece assesses support for President Putin and his war as broad, but more tepid than Moscow represents it. There is a prominent minority of ultra-nationalists, represented most obviously by the milbloggers. Within the armed forces, themselves, however, morale is seen as shaky.

Internet censorship within Russia has been extensive, which serves both to control news and to inhibit coordination among dissenters. A new VPN service,Amnezia VPN, is apparently proving more difficult for the authorities to block. WIREDreportsthat the service enables users to establish their own servers, obviating any need for traffic to pass through centralized servers, which is the common practice among most VPN providers.

Elon Musk, Chief Executive of Twitter (among other things) was interviewed by the BBC this week. He talked about the pain and stress involved with his acquisition of, and subsequent responsibility for running, Twitter. "It's not been boring. It's been quite a rollercoaster," Musk said. His tweets have from time-to-time attracted more notoriety than he might have wished. He poked some fun at himself, saying in reference to tweets he's made, "Have I shot myself in the foot with tweets multiple times? Yes." Shooting from the hip sometimes results in shooting oneself in the foot. He noted that tweeting around 3:00 AM may not be the best idea.

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The effects of the Discord Papers, considered as influence. KillNet's ... - The CyberWire

Censorship is still a prevalent issue in modern society. UK civil servants, for example, are not permitted to have any contacts with the media unless authorised in advance by the relevant Minister. Even the general principle of free speech has exceptions. For example, it is a criminal offence to use threatening or abusive language intending to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

Obviously, Linekers comments were not criminal in any way, however, as someone contracted by the BBC ( a public sector organisation) , should he refrain from direct comments on political matters? He is, after all, paid through a form of tax ( the BBC license fee). Regardless of your opinion, the suspension of Lineker by the BBC and the reaction that it provoked strongly indicates that issues surrounding free speech and censorship are highly controversial and ultimatley unresolved. However, the BBCs backing down after the boycott of sports programming across the network is suggestive of the fact that popular opinion is more in favour of openness rather than censorship, especially within the media.

We all hope for a sense of neutrality from the presenters and the BBC management, and perhaps the key to this is the separation of personal views and their professional roles. Agree with him or not, Lineker has at least kicked off an important discussion of freedom of speech.

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CROSSING THE LINE?: CENSORSHIP IN THE UK, Conor O'Shea ... - This is Local London

Heres the Full Text of an ALA Release:

The American Library Association (ALA) today announced a national day of action to protect libraries and the freedom to read, designating April 24, the Monday of National Library Week, as Right to Read Day. Right to Read Day also marks the first anniversary of the ALA-founded Unite Against Book Bans campaign, a public-facing advocacy initiative to empower readers everywhere to stand together in the fight against censorship.

Right to Read Day is a national day of actionnot just acknowledgement, said ALA President Lessa Kananiopua Pelayo-Lozada. ALA calls on readers everywhere to show our commitment to the First Amendment by doing something concrete to preserve it.

The fight against censorship is too big for one person or library or organization to take on alone. And we dont have to. Thats why ALA created Unite Against Book Bans: to be a collective voice in defending the right to read.

Since the movement was launched in April 2022, Unite Against Book Bans has created and curated a set of free advocacy resources and provided direct support to community organizers. Local advocates have used and adapted these resources to fight censorship in communities like Llano County and League City, Texas, and in states like Missouri and Louisiana. ALA and its Unite Against Book Bans partnersindividuals, authors, publishers, educators, advocacy groups and library organizations of all stripesare calling on readers to take action on Right to Read Day and beyond.

Suggested Right to Read Day actions include:

Right to Read resources, including social media assets, are available athttps://uniteagainstbookbans.org/right-to-read-day/

Readers who think, this will never happen in our community, need to think again. More than half the states have legislation proposed or passed that would take library books off the shelves, punish library workers who dare to make books accessible and silence the voices of LGBTQ, BIPOC and other authors. Speaking up and raising our voices now can stop censorship where its happening and prevent censorship where its just getting started.

In addition to the call to action, Unite Against Book Bans partners will host Protecting Free Expression and the Right to Read, a virtual conversation with partners from ALA, PEN America and National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) prompted by Forever Judy Blume, the new documentary about renowned author and right to read advocate Judy Blume. ALA President Pelayo-Lozada, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel and NCAC Executive Director Christopher Finan will sit down with the documentarys co-directors to discuss Judy Blumes trailblazing work and the unprecedented surge of censorship sweeping across the country.Registrationis required for the free virtual event, which will take placeMonday, April 24, at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.

The Monday of National Library Week also includes the release of ALAs annual State of Americas Libraries report, which includes a list of thetop 10 banned booksof 2022.

Source

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ALA Calls For National Day of Action to Protect the Freedom To ... - LJ INFOdocket