Freedom for Teachers
It’s always disappointing when advocates of the First Amendment find an excuse to fall short of full freedom. Charles Haynes of the First Amendment Center wrote a column last week arguing, “Teachers should have more academic freedom than they presently enjoy. But when religion is involved, teachers should not be free to impose either a…
The Bowdoin Broil
The National Association of Scholars has announced a project “examining the curriculum, student activities, and campus values of Bowdoin College.” I am sure that Peter Wood and the research fellow he has hired will attempt to do a thorough and fair job. But obviously they bring certain biases to their approach. And one concern I…
Upcoming Events
Some upcoming events (email us at academeblog@aaup.org if you have more events to recommend): In the Chicago area: On Mon Sept 26, at North Central College the newly constituted AAUP chapter is holding a fall kick-off event: North Central College will host a talk by Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors.…
Ellen Goodman Responds to Being Banned by Saint Francis University
Today is the beginning of Banned Books Week, and so it’s an appropriate time to report on speakers who are banned by colleges because of their past writings. This week, Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania decided to disinvite Ellen Goodman from giving a speech on campus next month. The right-wing Cardinal Newman Society celebrated the…
Faculty Strike at Cincinnati State
The AAUP has a statement on the strike at Cincinnati State. Here’s some of the media coverage from the AAUP website: “The administration’s original proposal included a workload increase that is more than 20 percent higher than the standard workload at comparable institutions. This would dramatically reduce the ability of faculty members to maintain the…
An Unjust Conviction at Irvine
A jury in Orange County today found 10 UC-Irvine and UC-Riverside students guilty of conspiring to disrupt a speech at Irvine by the Israeli ambassador to the US. I wrote about this case last year, when I objected to the collective punishment of a student group for what these individuals did: “it appears that the…
Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others
In a posting last week on Minding the Campus, Herbert London endorsed an effort to banish anti-Semitism on campus, noting “The Israel Law Center warns that colleges and universities ‘may be liable for massive damage’ if they fail to prevent anti-Semitism. London also praises the Israel Law Center’s reference to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling…
Higher Education News Round-Up
Former Northwestern professor David Protess writes a column at Huffington Post about a court’s ruling that requires Northwestern to reveal to the government “private communications between the students (and sometimes me) that included requests for references, breaking news about dead grandmothers and plans to meet for drinks.” Protess defends advocacy journalism, and concludes: “At stake…
The Right of College Students to Vote
College student voting rights are under assault again. Back in July, “Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster stood before reporters and TV cameras Monday waving a list of 206 college students who ‘may have conducted voter fraud here in Maine.’” Webster declared, “If you want to get really honest, this is about how the Democrats…