POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The following statement was released by California Scholars for Academic Freedom: The newly inaugurated U.S. administration has created an atmosphere of violence, racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism. A less discussed aspect of these attacks is on academic freedom. The 2016 election has taken to new extremes the threats to academic freedom. We…
BY AARON BARLOW If you want to teach students to think, you have to challenge them—challenge their beliefs and assumptions. Confirming what they (or their parents, or their communities) already believe does not serve that purpose. You also need to teach students to be honest with themselves and to examine their own beliefs by standards…
Shortly after the 2016 election, the AAUP warned that we could be facing the greatest threat to academic freedom since the McCarthy period. It now appears that such a warning was not misplaced. Extremists in the administration, Congress, and several state houses have created an atmosphere in which “alternative facts” reign supreme, and which encourages the introduction of legislation that threatens the core principles of our democracy.
BY JOHN K. WILSON The National Association of Scholars (NAS) has issued a tentative set of recommendation for amendments to the Higher Education Act. While claiming to offer “freedom from overregulation,” in reality the NAS proposals would impose the most restrictive, intrusive, and repressive regulations on higher education in American history. The vast number of…
BY HANK REICHMAN My title may be — indeed, probably is, alas — overoptimistic, but the rapid-fire sequence of events surrounding putrid provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, including the revoking of his invitation to speak at CPAC, the loss of his lucrative book deal, and finally, today, his forced resignation from Breitbart News, the repulsive fake news…
BY HANK REICHMAN A growing number of college and university presidents have spoken out against the Trump administration’s efforts to ban and deport immigrants and refugees. Some leading research universities have filed an amicus brief in support of the legal challenge to the initial ban. But a mere handful have been as outspoken about the…
BY JOERG TIEDE If teachers do not stand fighting in the front rank for freedom of intelligence, the cause of the latter is well-nigh hopeless, and we are in for that period of intimidation, oppression, and suppression that goes, and goes rightly, by the name of Fascism and Nazi-ism. — John Dewey, 1935 The American Association of…
BY HANK REICHMAN This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students, issued by the AAUP and other organizations. That statement spelled out clear guarantees of freedom of association for students. Those rights were called into question in December when Fordham University refused to permit students to create…
POSTED BY HANK REICHMAN The following letter by forty-eight US university presidents and chancellors was sent to President Trump on February 2. President Donald J. Trump The White House United States of AmericaDear President Trump: We write as presidents of leading American colleges and universities to urge you to rectify or rescind the recent executive…
BY ANTON FORD Yesterday, John K. Wilson posted a critique about those opposed to having former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski speak at the University of Chicago. Wilson asked Anton Ford if he wished to respond. Below is his email, and below that is the letter that was sent to the Institute of Politics. Dear…