History

In May 1975, the BU chapter of the AAUP (which represented 440 out of nearly 850 full-time professors at BU held a representation election that led to the BU AAUP becoming a labor union representing faculty at BU. The union fought for better faculty working conditions until 1982 when the university sought to and did decertify the union, following the Yeshiva vs National Labor Relations Board court decision that found that professors at private universities were not protected in unionizing under the NLRB. Prominent BU faculty, including Frances Fox Piven and Howard Zinn, played important roles in this early history. To learn more, read this article on the 1979 BU Strike. Some faculty and departments at BU in this period were targeted by former BU President John Silber, who cast a long shadow over a proud BU history that included important marks left by Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King Jr., and others. 

After laying dormant for nearly 30 years, BU faculty concerned by the university administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic resurrected BU AAUP as an advocacy chapter, which was formally established on April 6, 2021 and recognized by the national AAUP on April 14, 2021. Chapter size hovered around 37 members at this time.

The AAUP chapter, led by co-presidents Daniel Star and Mary Battenfeld initially, met with both the President and Provost, recommending that the university establish a Task Force on Faculty Governance and Transparency. Representing the BU chapter, the co-presidents pointed out that BU has many university committees, task forces, and planning documents, but none of them focus on either protecting and strengthening faculty participation in university decision-making or transparency regarding rationales and data used when making decisions.

In Fall 2025, Daniel Star stepped down as co-president, and Joseph Harris was elected co-president. The BU chapter sought to build on the strong foundations laid by past leadership and grew rapidly in response to attacks on higher education by the Trump administration and a vigorous membership drive. Today, it is now one of the most active chapters in the Boston area with a membership of over 300 that cuts across all schools, colleges, and departments at BU.