Statement of EMU-AAUP

Statement of EMU-AAUP

Re: EMU Disciplinary action in the case of Mark Higbee

As the union representing the EMU faculty, we have a legal responsibility to vigorously defend the due process and free speech rights of all our members.  

In July 2018, a neutral third-party arbitrator found that Professor Mark Higbee’s speech was protected by the First Amendment.  

The arbitrator concluded: “Without minimizing either the stupidity or the offensiveness of Higbee's insult, I am constrained to find that it is protected speech under the First Amendment.”

EMU-AAUP supports the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The law must apply equally to all.