Daily Egyptian Editorial 05
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Our Word
The concepts of academic freedom and freedom of speech are closely related. Our constitutional right to self-expression is one of our dearest freedoms, one that arguably preserves the concepts upon which our system of government is founded. By protecting dissent, we make the majority accountable to the minority.
We take it as axiomatic that a university, and the broader system of education of which it is a part, exists as a "marketplace of ideas." In this marketplace, innovations and new concepts survive on their own merits. If an idea has merit, the outraged sensibilities of those invested in conventional thinking ultimately prove irrelevant.
This only works if we take steps to create and protect an atmosphere of free inquiry. It is a delicate process, easily derailed, and one that frequently exposes intellectual and ideological divisions within the academic community. SIUC is not immune to this, as recent events in the History Department have shown.
A professor chose a controversial account of a series of race-related murders in California as option reading for a history course, which provoked outrage among other faculty members. After much public criticism, the professor apologized, stopped distributing the article and made no assignment related to it. Some of the professor's former students rose to his defense, saying he should be allowed to teach his course as he sees fit. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote in Sweezy v. New Hampshire: "It is the business of a university to provide that atmosphere, which is most conducive to speculation, experiment and creation. It is an atmosphere in which there prevail 'the four essential freedoms' of a university -- to determine for itself on academic grounds who may teach, what may be taught, how it shall be taught and who may be admitted to study." Professors must be free to choose controversial material if doing so will further intellectual inquiry. The manner in which the material is presented, the discussion it generates and the conclusions drawn from it - in other words, the intellectual context - must provide the standards by which such material is judged.
That was not the case here. Faculty reacted to the material itself, and, unable to conceive of a legitimate academic use for it, denounced the professor in such strong terms that he felt compelled to withdraw it before it could be used. This is not in the interest of academic freedom, no matter how offensive the article in question.
Another troubling aspect is the insistence by some that the students who were presented with the article were not yet capable of critical thinking and were therefore susceptible to corruption. This paternalistic attitude flies in the face of all freedom. It is not the University's mission to shield soft young minds from offensive ideas, and the ability to think critically cannot be developed when people are denied the opportunity to think in the first place.
At least one other professor has reconsidered distributing controversial material in hopes of avoiding a similar backlash. Our academic freedom is already feeling a chill.
In the Sweezy ruling, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote: "Scholarship cannot flourish in an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust. Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die."
As the University goes, so goes the community - and the world.
The Daily Egyptian, the student-run newspaper of SIUC, is committed to being a trusted source of information, commentary and public discourse while helping readers understand the issues affecting their lives.
The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester. The Pulse, Carbondale Entertainment Guide, is published once a week on Thursday.Last update: Sunday, April 24, 2005 at 6:31:57 PM
Copyright 2009 Daily Egyptian Editorial 05