AAUP Announces First-Ever National Political Endorsement

Today the national AAUP announced our first-ever national electoral endorsement in the Association's 110-year history.

The AAUP is proud to endorse Dr. Abdul El-Sayed for US Senate in the Michigan Democratic primary. Dr. El-Sayed is a fierce champion for debt-free and tuition-free higher education and will be an invaluable ally for academic freedom and higher education as a public good in Washington. He has vowed to stand up to the Trump administration's ideological assault on the sector and defend the rights of students and faculty to speak out on political issues, question authority, and engage in peaceful protest without fear of retribution. Dr. El-Sayed is a former teacher and has been a member of several higher education labor unions, including the AAUP. Dr. El-Sayed has also been endorsed by AFT Michigan, Wayne Academic Union (AAUP-AFT), United Auto Workers, and National Nurses United.

At the 2026 AAUP Biennial Meeting in Chicago in June, AAUP members voted unanimously on a package of resolutions to help better position the union to build power to win the future of higher education and democracy. At the meeting, the AAUP's governing Council committed to engaging more directly in political work, advancing an agenda for debt-free public higher education, and confronting authoritarian threats to the sector, including censorship, program elimination, and efforts to control curriculum, hiring, and research.