Academic Freedom

Obviously, political correctness trumps academic freedom and the First Amendment, and isn't it delicious to observe the squirming from a bastion of the inherent conflict ("Towson adjunct professor fired for racial remark in class," Mar. 3)? To add spice to the sauce, we enjoy the shuckin' and jivin' from the educator-bureaucrat-elitists as they pontificate from their tower of babble. Dave Reich, Perry Hall Send letters to the editor to talkback@baltimoresun.com.

Editor: In response to "Harford County Council passes resolution condemning state gun law" (May 15th, 2013): The article quotes a Harford County Councilman who questioned the objectivity of gun policy research at Johns Hopkins University because New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a major benefactor.  I direct the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, and have been conducting research on gun policy for the past 23 years....

WASHINGTON - The University of Maryland's decision to assign freshmen to read a play on the killing of gay college student Matthew Shepard comes on the heels of a successful resolution of a similar controversy at the University of North Carolina. The decision by higher education leaders in Chapel Hill to press on with a class-wide reading assignment of a book about the Quran, despite opposition from certain Christian activists and legislators, was a victory for academic freedom. But both of these episodes are part of an ongoing larger conflict about the responsibilities of public universities in a free society.

In Virginia, the attorney general, skeptical of global warming, tried to use his subpoena powers to build a fraud case against a climatology professor. In Wisconsin, Republican Party officials sought the emails of a history professor, trying to demonstrate that he had misused his public account to stir political unrest during the state's highly publicized battles over organized labor. Maryland Del. Sandy Rosenberg, a Baltimore Democrat, has cited these controversies, which garnered national attention, as he vows to prevent a similar situation from arising here.

PROFESSOR WARD Churchill of the University of Colorado seems to be enjoying his 15 minutes of infamy for his childish rants against people who were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Others, of course, resent his cheap shots at the dead, and some are trying to get him fired. The resulting controversy has wider implications for the understanding - and misunderstanding - of what is meant by "academic freedom." However symptomatic Mr. Churchill may be of what is wrong with academia today, his situation has nothing to do with academic freedom.

Two hundred thousand Palestinian children began school in the Gaza Strip this month without a full complement of textbooks. Why? Because Israel, which maintains a stranglehold over this small strip of land along the Mediterranean even after withdrawing its settlers from there in 2005, considers paper, ink and binding materials not to be "fundamental humanitarian needs." Israel, attempting to throttle the democratically elected Hamas government, generally permits only food, medicine and fuel to enter Gaza, and allows virtually no Palestinian exports to leave.

CHICAGO - Should homosexuals be hired as teachers? One outspoken Internet pundit says no. But his opinion has fueled a controversy over academic freedom of expression because it is posted on a site maintained by the writer's employer, a state university. Hiring gay teachers "puts the fox into the chicken coop," Eric Rasmusen wrote on his Web log, or "blog," on Aug. 26. "Male homosexuals, at least, like boys and are generally promiscuous," he continued. "They should not be given the opportunity to satisfy their desires."

DENVER - Worried that left-wing professors are using college classrooms to bully those who don't toe the liberal line, a Colorado politician says it may be time to pass a law protecting students who hold more conservative or religious views. Republican state Senate President John Andrews recently sent a letter to Colorado's 29 public colleges and universities, asking them to explain how they handle cases of ideological discrimination and how they promote diverse points of view. Their answers are due Monday.

College professors are decrying a national report that castigates them for criticizing the United States in the aftermath of Sept. 11, saying it reads like a blueprint for a blacklist. The report, published by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, details more than 100 examples of what its authors call a prevailing "blame America first" sentiment on college campuses. The politically well-connected nonprofit association, founded in 1995 by Lynne Cheney, the wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, believes American students are graduating without a proper appreciation for what makes America great.

Editor: In response to "Harford County Council passes resolution condemning state gun law" (May 15th, 2013): The article quotes a Harford County Councilman who questioned the objectivity of gun policy research at Johns Hopkins University because New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a major benefactor.  I direct the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, and have been conducting research on gun policy for the past 23 years....

There is no greater rallying cry at American universities than that of supporting "diversity. " On a near-daily basis, we hear of some new program that ostensibly furthers this value. What does "diversity" mean though? "Diversity," as applied by the American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) website, means that "the Association is committed to use its procedures and to take measures ... against colleges and universities practicing illegal or unconstitutional discrimination ... including, but not limited to, age, sex, disability, race, religion, national origin, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Obviously, political correctness trumps academic freedom and the First Amendment, and isn't it delicious to observe the squirming from a bastion of the inherent conflict ("Towson adjunct professor fired for racial remark in class," Mar. 3)? To add spice to the sauce, we enjoy the shuckin' and jivin' from the educator-bureaucrat-elitists as they pontificate from their tower of babble. Dave Reich, Perry Hall Send letters to the editor to talkback@baltimoresun.com.

Pope Benedict XVI's highly anticipated address today to more than 200 leaders of U.S. Catholic colleges has renewed a debate that is as old as their origins: How do Catholic institutions of higher education balance their religious identity with academic freedom? Catholic colleges were founded upon the principle that faith and reason are essential in the pursuit of knowledge. But at times, the two ideals have clashed, with conservative Catholics condemning some curricula and opposing such campus activities as gay student groups, commencement speakers who support abortion rights, and stage productions of The Vagina Monologues.

Two hundred thousand Palestinian children began school in the Gaza Strip this month without a full complement of textbooks. Why? Because Israel, which maintains a stranglehold over this small strip of land along the Mediterranean even after withdrawing its settlers from there in 2005, considers paper, ink and binding materials not to be "fundamental humanitarian needs." Israel, attempting to throttle the democratically elected Hamas government, generally permits only food, medicine and fuel to enter Gaza, and allows virtually no Palestinian exports to leave.

You don't have to be a crusading right-winger to recognize that University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill, who compared the victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack to Nazis, is an extremist, an ideologue whose scholarship is less than objective. Nor do you have to be a flame-throwing left-winger to agree that the university where he was once director of the ethnic studies department shouldn't have ditched him the way it did. It needed to do much, much more. Two short years ago, Mr. Churchill's labeling of trade center victims as "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi in charge of sending Jews to death camps, provoked a heated yet necessary national debate on the state of scholarship at American universities.

CHICAGO -- Huey Long, the fabled Louisiana populist governor and senator, had no special reverence for intellectuals and generally did his best to sound like an unlettered hayseed. But during his time in power, he poured money into Louisiana State University. His inspiration came from 18th-century Prussian ruler Frederick the Great, whom Mr. Long was fond of quoting: "My soldiers will take Vienna, and my professors at Heidelberg will explain the reasons why." For anyone who might question his policies, Huey said, "I've got a university down in Louisiana that cost me $15 million that can tell you why I do like I do."

There is no greater rallying cry at American universities than that of supporting "diversity. " On a near-daily basis, we hear of some new program that ostensibly furthers this value. What does "diversity" mean though? "Diversity," as applied by the American Association of University Professors' (AAUP) website, means that "the Association is committed to use its procedures and to take measures ... against colleges and universities practicing illegal or unconstitutional discrimination ... including, but not limited to, age, sex, disability, race, religion, national origin, marital status, or sexual orientation.

Faculty members at Essex Community College have formed a chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which represents faculty at colleges and universities nationwide.Margaret Guchemand, head of the music department, was elected president of the group. A membership drive is under way and professors say they are concerned about the issues of preserving academic freedom, tenure and due process. Faculty from the campuses at Dundalk and Catonsville have been invited to join.In June, AAUP censured Essex Community College officials for firing four professors from tenured positions in 1994.

Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado has cut through the cant about "free speech" and come to the defense of a 16-year-old high school student who tape-recorded his geography teacher using class time to rant against President Bush and compare him to Adolf Hitler. The teacher's lawyer talks about First Amendment rights to free speech, but free speech has never meant speech free of consequences. Even aside from laws against libel or extortion, you can insult your boss or your spouse only at your own risk.

Academic freedom isn't one-way street One didn't need to read Lionel S. Lewis' biography at the end of his column "Academic freedom under siege from right" (Opinion Commentary, Feb. 28) to know that he has spent his life in the shelter of academia. Mr. Lewis seems to believe that academics' freedom of speech is a one-way street with no repercussions for the speaker. But here in the real world, I certainly have the right to state any opinion I wish. Those giving me the soapbox I speak from, however, have every right to rebut me, and take away my platform, if they feel that my words reflect poorly on them.