Gwynedd Mercy AAUP Reactivates Chapter

Faculty at Gwynedd Mercy University (GMercyU) in Gwynedd Valley, PA, have re-established their AAUP chapter, receiving formal approval of the chapter’s revised charter by the national AAUP Council at its meeting in November 2025.

GMercyU’s advocacy chapter originally formed in 1997 and worked to strengthen shared governance at Gwynedd-Mercy College (as it was then known) by developing a faculty handbook, strengthening faculty committees, and increasing faculty involvement in the process for hiring the Vice President for Academic Affairs. About fifteen years ago, however, the chapter lapsed into dormancy, but concerns over actions taken by the administration in May 2024 led to renewed interest in the AAUP as a leader in protecting faculty rights. Since then, the GMercyU chapter has focused on growing membership, held events to build awareness among colleagues about issues of institutional governance and academic freedom, and successfully recommended revisions to the faculty handbook using language straight from the AAUP’s Policy Documents and Reports (the Redbook).

Support and encouragement from colleagues beyond the GMercyU campus has helped: PA AAUP President Dennis Deslippe traveled to the GMercyU campus in February 2025 to meet with faculty, and colleagues from La Salle University’s AAUP chapter joined a meeting that May to offer advice about strategies for building and growing the chapter from their own experiences.