Defend the University

It seems as if all those with academic positions would want to 
consider signing this petition.  One can do this by e-mailing:  
defend.university@gmail.com.


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 Ad Hoc Committee to Defend the University



Many concerned individuals, on campuses and beyond, have been 
monitoring and
condemning the recent attacks on academic freedom, including the ever 
more aggressive
incursion of partisan politics into universities' hiring and tenure 
practices.
Today a diverse group of academics and others are joining together to 
collectively mark
our resistance to the current abrogation of academic freedoms.  To 
begin we are asking
people to sign up so that their name may be added to the petition on 
our web page here,
and to the petition as it will appear in the  press.
   If you would like to join us, or for more information, please 
contact us at defend.university@gmail.com.



 Our Petition
    In recent years, universities across the country have been 
targeted by outside groups seeking to influence what is taught and 
who can teach. To achieve their political agendas, these groups have 
defamed scholars, pressured administrators, and tried to bypass or 
subvert established procedures of academic governance. As a 
consequence, faculty have been denied jobs or tenure, and scholars 
have been denied public platforms from which to share their 
viewpoints. This violates an important principle of scholarship, the 
free exchange of ideas, subjecting them to ideological and political 
tests. These attacks threaten academic freedom and the core mission 
of institutions of higher education in a democratic society.

    Unfortunately and ironically, many of the most vociferous 
campaigns targeting universities and their faculty have been launched 
by groups portraying themselves as defenders of Israel. These groups 
have targeted scholars who have expressed perspectives on Israeli 
policies and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with which they 
disagree. To silence those they consider their political enemies, 
they have used a range of tactics such as:

*unfounded insinuations and allegations, in the media and on 
websites, of anti-Semitism or
sympathy for terrorism or "un-Americanism;"
*efforts to broaden definitions of anti-Semitism to include 
scholarship and teaching that is critical of U.S. foreign policy in 
the Middle East and of Israel;
*pressures on university administrations by threatening to withhold 
donations if faculty they have targeted are hired or awarded tenure;
*campaigns to deny scholars the opportunity to present their views to 
the wider public;
*the promotion of efforts to restrict federal funding for area 
studies programs and the teaching of critical languages on political 
grounds;
*lawsuits in the name of the "right" of individual students not to 
hear ideas that may challenge or contradict their beliefs;
*and demands in the name of "balance" and "diversity" that those with 
whom they disagree be prevented from speaking unless paired with 
someone whose viewpoint they approve of.

    The suppression of free speech undermines academic freedom and 
subverts the norms of academic life.  It poses a serious threat to 
institutions of higher education in the United States.  The 
university should be a place where different interpretations can be 
explored and competing ideas exchanged. Academic freedom means not 
only the right to pursue a variety of interpretations, but the 
maintenance of standards of truth and acceptability by one's peers.  
It is university faculty, not outside political groups with partisan 
political agenda, who are best able to judge the quality of their 
peers' research and teaching. This is not just a question of academic 
autonomy, but of the future of  a democratic society. This is a time 
in which we need more thoughtful reflection about the world, not less.

    A study by a Harvard sociologist last summer found that "a 
greater percentage of social scientists today feels their academic 
freedom has been threatened than was the case during the McCarthy 
era."  It is time to defend the norms of scholarship and the best 
traditions of the academy.

We, the undersigned, therefore pledge:

    *to speak out against those who attack our colleagues and our 
universities in order to achieve their political goals;
*to urge university administrators and trustees to defend academic 
freedom and the norms of academic life, even if it means incurring 
the displeasure of non-scholarly groups, the media among them;
    *to vigorously promote our views in the media and through the 
Internet, and to explain the importance of academic freedom to a 
sustainable and vibrant democracy;
    *to mobilize our students to defend the values and integrity of 
their institutions.

The future of higher education in America, its role in our country's 
democracy, and its contribution to world affairs is at stake.  Join 
us in defending academic freedom!
Joan Scott, Edmund Burke, Jeremy Adelman, Steven Caton, Jonathan 
Cole, Organizing Committee.