(fwd) Academic Freedom

[Guest guest]

Faculty,

 

Students here in Claremont have become

concerned about the current national firestorm over

progressive and radical faculty, and the question of

academic freedom. After the Ward Churchill event at

Bridges Auditorium two weeks ago, students have

decided to begin a national coalition to protect our

professors and our right to a liberal education.

Attached and copied below is a draft of our student

letter. We were inspired by Pitzer's Faculty Critical

Thinking initiative (www.defendcriticalthinking.org).

 

 

We would like you to read our letter, and present it

to students that you feel may be interested in this

cause. If you know of professors at other colleges

who would be interested in this letter, please forward

it to them. We are also looking to begin collecting

signatures on our letter, which can be sent to

studentsforcriticalthinking

<studentsforcriticalthinking .

Please email us with any comments, criticisms, or

interest.

 

Thank you for your time,

 

Concerned Students

 

 

 

STUDENTS! YOUR EDUCATION IS IN DANGER!

 

 

 

DEFEND RADICAL AND PROGRESSIVE FACULTY WHO

PROMOTE CRITICAL THINKING AND DISSENT!

 

 

 

The academic community is witnessing a chilling turn

in American political and intellectual life. Many

tenured faculty have been under attack for expressing

views that are critical of the current and historical

role of the U.S. at home and abroad.

 

 

 

Among the numerous professors that have been the

object of unprecedented nationwide attacks is Ward

Churchill. Churchill, a tenured professor of Ethnic

Studies at the University of Colorado, has been set up

for a political firing for proposing that there might

be a reason that people around the world hate the

United States. Another target is Joseph Massad,

professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual

history at Columbia University, who has been labeled

" anti-semitic " for bringing out truths in the

classrooms about the role of the U.S. and Israel in

the Middle East.

 

 

 

These incidents are concentrated examples of a

well-orchestrated campaign launched in the name of

" academic freedom " and " balance " which in fact aims to

purge the universities of more radical thinkers and

oppositional thought generally, and to create a

climate of intimidation. These forces want to create

an intellectual universe where the only allowable

thinking and politics would be that of Fox news: they

want closed minds and uncontested indoctrination.

 

 

 

One of the most disturbing aspects of this campaign

for campus 'reform' has been the misuse of phrases

such as " Academic Freedom " and " Bill of Rights "

perversely to censor and attack critical thinking and

dissent. This sinister movement is led by right wing

groups such as " Students for Academic Freedom. "

Members of this group target progressive professors,

disrupt classes, record their lectures, and manipulate

and manufacture remarks for dissemination through the

conservative mass media to brand them as " America

haters. "

 

 

 

There are currently 12 " Academic Bill of Rights "

initiatives making their way through state

legislatures around the country. These bills propose

that academic programs be reviewed by State and

Federal legislatures, alleging that they protect

students from indoctrination. Only recently, the

California Senate Education Committee defeated, by a

narrow margin, this bogus " Academic Bill of Rights, "

SB 5. Fortunately, this committee acknowledged that

the bill " wrongly assumes that California's students

somehow need to be protected from the free flow of

critical and controversial ideas that constitute one

of higher education's greatest strengths. "

 

 

 

WHAT DO THESE ATTACKS MEAN FOR STUDENTS?

 

*No Gender Studies, Ethnic Studies, Queer

Studies, etc.

 

*There would be no challenging of

mainstream ideas and orthodoxies.

 

*Faculty who stimulate critical thinking

will be silenced.

 

*Regimented thinking in education.

 

 

 

THINGS YOU CAN DO:

 

*Let people know about what is happening. Sign and

circulate this letter. Collect signatures and send

them to us at the email below. Get it posted on

student websites, published in campus newspapers and

get it announced on campus radio stations.

 

*Let's stand behind progressive faculty and prepare to

back them up if targeted for censor. We need their

voices, scholarship, and teaching expertise.

 

*Let people know about the " Academic Bill of Rights "

being pushed in your state or on your campus, and

oppose it.

 

*Organize speak-outs and protests. Make

this an issue at commencement.

 

 

 

CONCERNED STUDENTS FOR CRITICAL THINKING

 

studentsforcriticalthinking