"Sniper on the Roof" - Where Academic Freedom Dies

Trailer"Sniper on the Roof” is a documentary film led by award-winning filmmakers Robert Arnove, Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership and Policy at Indiana University, and Jacky Comforty, an internationally acclaimed documentarian and oral historian.

This project stems from an urgent concern for the future of Indiana University. Our concern is how recent Indiana General Assembly legislation affects IU’s Institutional autonomy, shared governance structure, strong tenure policies, academic freedom, constitutional rights of free speech and assembly – and how the Whitten administration has responded. The film takes an historical perspective on recent events.

A series of legislative overreach, coupled with a destructive and corrupt administration driven by fear and coercion, is fueling a climate of distrust and coercion. These actions, alongside a reactionary state legislature and an autocratic administration, jeopardize the university’s standing as a leading public research institution and threaten the tenure policies that protect faculty in their teaching, research, and service without external interference.

The film is in its final stages of offline editing, and we are seeking finishing funds to complete post-production and ensure national and international distribution. Our goal is to reach the widest possible audience, raising awareness about the dangers of political interference in higher education. Funds raised will go directly toward professional post-production services and a robust distribution campaign, including festival submissions and outreach to educational institutions.

By supporting this documentary, you are helping to spark critical conversations about the importance of academic freedom in the United States. We hope to alarm the public about the dangers of culture wars in education and encourage policymakers to recognize how political agendas can undermine science and knowledge. Your contribution will help us to build an outreach campaign to bring this vital story to screens across the country and beyond, inspiring action and protecting the future of academic inquiry.