Academic Freedom

Given recent outrage over the statements and behaviors of some academics, it is not surprising that the hoi polloi is calling for restraint of expression in colleges, particularly public universities. David Horowitz's "Students for Academic Freedom" movement is gaining popularity among some of our states' legislatures. Calls for professors to cease expressing certain views have reverberated throughout the nation.

It seems that the reactionaries are building strawman arguments in most of these cases by selecting the most outrageous and egregious examples in order to indict academia as a whole. Such pressure upon state governments may have a chilling effect on the freedom of research and dissemination of results. One viewpoint trumpeted by right-wing commentators is that state institutions, funded by tax dollars, should follow the dictates of public sentiment. Consider the absurdity of such a notion. The acquisition of knowledge and understanding cannot be dictated by the capricious winds of the prevailing moods. For this same reason, judges are insulated - in theory - from public opinion (at least at the federal level, where they are not elected).

There has been a recent trend away from tenured positions. This is unfortunate, as tenure provides the chief means of mitigating undue political and administrative pressure against academics and their work. This is not to say that a professor has absolute liberty - no one does. Universities have termination options for behaviors such as plagiarism, falsifying data, unprofessional conduct, etc. Not to mention the legal ramifications imposed upon all citizens for acts of slander or libel. Every academic is subject to ostratization by his peers as well. If one's research or interpretation is apparently tendentious, sloppy, ot irrelevant, the community of scholars will most assuredly make it known. However, neither unpopularity nor unconventionality of views should ever become the impetus for either termination or discipline.