Executive Council Actions
The Executive Council regularly considers academic and public policy matters and often writes letters, statements, or guidelines to address these matters. Presented below, in reverse chronological order, are council documents that deal with a variety of issues including faculty governance, academic freedom, tenure, language learning, and government regulations. Members who are pursuing these or related issues on their campuses may find these documents useful.
2024
2023
- Joint Letter from Scholarly Societies regarding SUNY Potsdam's Financial Sustainability Plan
- Joint Statement: Fighting for an Ambitious Vision of Public Higher Education in America
- Guidelines for Evaluating Literary Translation in Hiring and Promotion Decisions
- MLA Statement on SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling
- Joint Statement Condemning the Effort to Undermine Academic Freedom in Florida HB 999
- Joint Statement Denouncing Florida HB 999
- Statement Supporting Academic Freedom in Recent Cases of Faculty Employment
- Joint Statement in Support of Academic Freedom and New College of Florida
2022
- Statement on Research Funding in the Humanities
- Statement Endorsing the AAUP’s Statement “Legislative Threats to Academic Freedom: Redefinitions of Antisemitism and Racism”
- MLA Statement Supporting the Right of Graduate Student Workers to Organize
- MLA Statement in Support of the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition
- Joint Statement on Bomb Threats against HBCUs: A History of Domestic Terrorism
- Statement on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act
- Statement Regarding the Veto of Literary Studies Australia Research Council Grants
2021
- Statement on Campus Reopenings and Challenges to Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Shared Governance
- Joint Statement on Threats to Academic Conferences
- Statement on Higher Education Provisions in the Budget Reconciliation Bill and Urgent Call to Action
- Letter of Appeal for Colleagues in Afghanistan
- Joint Statement on Legislative Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism in American History
- Statement on Proposed College for All Act
- Statement on Administrative Overreach, Shared Governance, and Faculty Rights in the Time of COVID-19
- Joint Statement Condemning Anti-Asian Violence
- Letter to Iowa Officials Regarding Legislation That Would End Tenure
- Updated Statement on Violence against Students and Teachers in India
- Updated MLA Statement on Continuing Threats to Academic Freedom and Higher Education in Turkey
- Joint Statement Opposing New Policy on Virtual Scholarly Exchanges in India
- Joint Statement Urging Kansas Board of Regents to Uphold Employment Protections for Faculty
2020
- Resolution on Collection Development in the Time of COVID-19
- Joint Statement on the Recent White House Conference on American History
- Joint Statement on COVID-19 and the Key Role of the Humanities and Social Sciences in the United States
- Joint Statement on the 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law
- Statement Opposing Xenophobic Visa Regulations Imposed on International Students and Scholars
- Letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Concerning Its Decision to End Visa Exemptions for International Students
- Updated Statement on COVID-19 and Academic Labor
- MLA Statement Deploring Systemic Racism
- Report of the MLA Task Force on Ethical Conduct in Graduate Education
- Joint Statement Regarding Student Educational Progress during the COVID-19 Crisis
- Statement on COVID-19 and Academic Labor
- Joint Statement Regarding Faculty Review and Reappointment Processes during the COVID-19 Crisis
- Statement on the Termination of Graduate Student Strikers at the University of California, Santa Cruz
- Statement on Recognizing Individuals’ Personal Pronouns
- Joint Statement on Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Investigations into NYU and UCLA
- Letter in Support of Tibetan Language-Rights Advocate
- Statement on Violence against Students and Teachers in India
- Joint Statement against the Military Targeting of Cultural Sites
2019
- Statement on the Violent Repression of Political Protest
- Letter to Israeli Authorities about Restrictions on International Academics Working in Palestinian Universities
- MLA Statement on Inclusive and Equitable Policies
- Letter Expressing Concern about the Department of Education’s Interpretation of Title VI
- Statement in Support of University Presses
- MLA Statement on Continuing Threats to Academic Freedom and Higher Education in Turkey
- Joint Statement on Proposed Program Cuts at the University of Tulsa
2018
- MLA Statement on the Closing of the Central European University
- MLA Statement on Restricted Entry and Presence of Foreign Nationals Serving Palestinian Universities
- MLA Statement on Unrestricted Travel to Pursue Education
- Joint Statement on Proposed Program Cuts at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point
- Joint Statement Condemning Poland’s Criminalization of References to Polish Complicity in Nazi War Crimes
2017
- Joint Statement Opposing US Proposal to Tax Tuition Waivers
- MLA Statement on Content Warnings
- Letter to Stony Brook University about Cutting Humanities Programs
- MLA Statement on Immigration Ban
- MLA Statement on Watch Lists
2016
- MLA Statement on the 2016 Presidential Election
- Joint Statement on Threats to Academic Freedom and Higher Education in Turkey
- MLA Statement on Discrimination against Transgender Individuals
- MLA Statement of Support for Turkish Academics
2015
- MLA Statement on Islamophobia
- MLA Statement on Exclusion of Refugees
- Statements on Campus Carry Legislation
- Joint Statement Defending Tenure and Academic Freedom in Wisconsin
- MLA Condemns Censorship and Suppression of Controversial Works and Writers
- MLA Condemns Violence against Teachers and Students in Mexico
2014
- Letter to the Governor of Virginia
- Letter to the Chancellor of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- MLA Support for Net Neutrality
- MLA Guidelines on Letters of Recommendation
2013
- MLA Response to Senator Jeff Sessions’s Letter to the NEH
- Opposition to State Interference in College Curricula
- Statement on the Value of Ethnic Studies Programs
- Statement on the Importance of Unrestricted Travel for Scholarly Exchange
2012
- Letter to the New York Public Library President
- MLA Statement on Language Learning and United States National Policy
- Statement on Language Requirements for Doctoral Programs in English
- Statement on Tucson Mexican American Studies Program
- Opposition to Research Works Act
2011
- Response to Campus Violence
- Statement on Student Debt
- Statement on the Importance of Language Learning
- Call for Action on Federal Budget Cuts to Language and Humanities Programs
- MLA Guidelines for Evaluating Translations as Scholarship
- Executive Council Deplores Open-Records Requests That Infringe Academic Freedom
- Statement of Support for Teachers in Wisconsin and Other States
- Executive Council Approves Statement on Fair Use
2010
- Open Letter to Arizona Governor
- Executive Council Approves Statement on First Amendment Protection
- Letter to Secretary of State Clinton, May 2010
2009
- Executive Council Deplores Attacks on Iranian Universities
- LSU Press Letter, May 2009
- Executive Council Statement on Abolishing Tenure in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System