PSC position on Title VI training

Dear Colleagues,

I write regarding the mandatory training video that all full-time CUNY faculty and staff members are required to complete by May 29, 2026. CUNY’s effort to comply with Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act is complicated by the fact that the Trump administration is weaponizing the law. Our guidance builds on the union’s outreach last year to clarify Title VI, the CUNY portal for reporting discrimination and retaliation complaints, academic freedom, and free speech in a national context and here at CUNY.

Title VI itself is not a problem. This law was formulated as part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to deter discrimination and harassment. It prevents institutions that violate the law from receiving federal aid. When enforced neutrally as intended, Title VI is an important tool for ensuring equal protections and safety at colleges and universities. However, from the start of President Trump’s second term, Title VI enforcement has focused on certain forms of expression at the expense of others. This has created an untenable situation for faculty members across the country and undermined principles of academic freedom and legal precedent on free speech.

The CUNY administration developed an online Title VI training video and revised the training video in response to feedback from the PSC, the University Faculty Senate and the CUNY Alliance to Defend Higher Education. CUNY expects all full-time faculty and staff to complete the revised Understanding Title VI Training at least once each year, with a 2026 deadline of May 29 to complete the online training.

Given the context and the documented effort by the Trump administration to curtail disfavored speech among faculty, staff, and students in and out of the classroom, skepticism toward the training is warranted. But the PSC does not encourage a boycott of the training; the CUNY administration is compelled by law to demonstrate compliance and could respond by charging faculty with insubordination or refusal of a work assignment. However, we believe that additional, alternative resources are necessary for our members and that the training requires further revision.

The PSC’s position is that the freedom to teach means that faculty members may “select the materials, determine the approach to the subject, make the assignments, and assess student academic performance in teaching activities for which they are individually responsible, without having their decisions subject to the veto of a department chair, dean, or other administrative officer,” as the AAUP stated in 2013. The AAUP’s 2007 Freedom in the Classroom report is also useful as it clarifies matters such as education vs. indoctrination, fairness and balance in the classroom, hostile learning environment, and the caution against faculty “persistently intruding material which has no relation to their subject.”

Please note the following additional resources. They are for informational purposes and do not constitute legal advice.

• Academic Freedom First Aid Kit (AAUP Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom – July 2025)
• On Title VI, Discrimination, and Academic Freedom (AAUP – September 2025)
• Discriminating Against Dissent: The Weaponization of Civil Rights Law to Repress Campus Speech on Palestine (AAUP & the Middle East Studies Association – November 2025)

The PSC recognizes the hard work that CUNY faculty and staff do to make sure that, regardless of their background, all students are valued as learners, including in our presentation of challenging ideas and topics that may be considered controversial.

In solidarity,

James Davis, President