The political climate in the South is prompting faculty members to seek jobs elsewhere, according to a survey released last week by the American Association of University Professors regional chapters.

The survey included responses from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.

About 55% of the survey’s 4,000 respondents wouldn’t say their state is a desirable place to work. And about a quarter said they plan to apply for jobs in another state in the coming year, a percentage which has stayed consistent in surveys the last two years.

[Read more: Who owns a public university syllabus? (via our partner WUNC)]

The survey was designed to capture how state and federal pressure is impacting the day-to-day work and recruitment of faculty members, according to a release. (The survey responses were shared with Open Campus.)

We’ve seen one such example of this pressure playing out in Texas recently. A dean and a department head were demoted and an instructor was fired at Texas A&M University after a video circulated showing a student confronting a professor over LGBTQ-related content shown in class. In the video, a student is heard objecting to a professor teaching that there are more than two genders, Jessica Priest reported at our partner the Texas Tribune. (Yesterday Mark A. Welsh III, the university’s president, announced he would step down amid the turmoil.)

[Read more: Faculty, advocacy groups fear Texas A&M firing threatens academic freedom (via our partner the Texas Tribune)]

Faculty members said in the AAUP survey that video recordings of class content are one of their sources of worry. “I no longer record video lectures for online courses because I do not want them used against me,” one respondent said. Another called them “‘ambush videos’ which take course and class discussions out of context to attack faculty.”

And, the climate on college campuses has grown even more strained since Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist who founded Turning Point USA, was killed last week during a speaking event at Utah Valley University. “Kirk’s movement and message increasingly occupy the mainstream, fitting neatly into President Trump’s larger narrative that colleges and universities are unwelcome to conservatives and ought to be called out or even punished for it,” the Chronicle of Higher Education reported at the time.

(The AAUP survey was conducted and released before Kirk’s death, so the responses don’t reflect any shifts since then.)

A growing number of colleges have fired or suspended employees for online posts reacting to Kirk’s death. At Clemson University, for example, an employee was fired and two faculty members were removed from the classroom for making social media posts about Kirk’s death, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported earlier this week. The decision followed Republicans in the state legislature and congressional delegation threatening to yank the university’s funding if it didn’t fire employees who “celebrate” Kirk’s death, the Chronicle reported.

[Read more: Chicago-area college students call for end to political violence after Charlie Kirk’s killing (via our partner WBEZ)]

To be sure, there has been tension over free speech and politics on campuses since before Kirk’s death. In a shift from last year’s AAUP survey, the political climate of the South replaced salary as the main reason why faculty members said they’d look for jobs elsewhere.

[Read more: 6 flashpoints in the history of academic freedom in Pittsburgh (via our partner Public Source)]

An open-ended question asked the faculty members to describe how attacks on higher ed are impacting their work. (Faculty members provided information such as their rank and state of residence, but remained anonymous in the survey.) Here are a few responses:

• “Attacks have instilled fear in our graduate students and led some to reconsider seeking an academic position in the U.S.”

• “I had an NSF grant terminated.”

• “I am watching what I am sharing with students as some may (and already have) report my department's texts and documents to lawmakers.”

• “I find myself questioning the way I phrase historic events related to, but not limited to, slavery, colonization, oppression, segregation, etc.”

• “No direct impacts (yet) but anxiety is high and faith in admin [sic] doing the right thing is very low.“

• “It has the effect of making things that used to be easy, much harder.” 

We’re a nonprofit newsroom that relies on your support.

If dedicated local reporting on higher ed matters to you, donate to Open Campus today.

Elsewhere on Open Campus

Our reporters in Wisconsin and Puerto Rico are reporting on the impact of the administration’s decision to end long-standing grant programs that support Hispanic-serving institutions.

That amounts to $20.7 million in cuts to eight Puerto Rican universities, reports Víctor Rodriguez Velázquez at our partner Centro de Periodismo Investigativo. Nearly all — 97% — of college students in Puerto Rico are Hispanic.

Natalie Yahr at our partner Wisconsin Watch spoke with several colleges that have worked for years to reach the 25% enrollment threshold required to be considered Hispanic-serving. They’ll continue supporting those students, whether or not they receive additional federal funds.

“For us, it is a natural reflection of the community that we serve,” said Jeffrey Morin, president of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

Hispanic students are the fastest growing population of college-bound students, Natalie reported. Those who support specific funding for HSIs say it helps a group that has been historically under-served in higher ed, and when those students graduate, it helps the economy. The Trump administration says the grant programs violate the Constitution.

Keep in touch

We’re a nonprofit newsroom that relies on the support of readers like you. Donate today.

Interested in reaching readers who care about higher education in communities across the country? Get in touch or request our media kit.

Please share. Forward this newsletter to colleagues, family, and friends who might be interested. They can sign up for their own copy here.

Run a newsroom and want to improve your coverage of higher ed? Let’s talk.

Got a story tip or a question? Please send it along.