Academic Freedom Under Fire

Amber Hussung

Americans' First Amendment rights are currently facing rigorous scrutiny in the wake of Septem ber 11 and the war with Iraq. The classroom is no exception. Many educators are feeling the heat of a more conservative trend which equates criticism of United States diplomacy or President George W. Bush with a lack of support for America and its ideals. On campuses across the country, many teachers are being labeled "anti-American" or "unpatriotic" when engaging students in critical discussions of the causes and consequences of these monumental events. As a result, such groups as the American Studies Association (ASA) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) have warned about governmental policies and organizations they feel negatively affect universities and academia.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld addresses the audience assembled for a town hall meeting at Aviano Air Base, Italy, on 7 February 2003. Rumsfeld visited Aviano after meetings in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi and Minister of Defense Martino. (DoD photo by R. D. Ward.)

An AAUP committee recently formed to explore academic freedom and national security in a time of crisis, concluded, "that our national response must protect against threats to security, while at the same time protecting the right to unfettered speech and free inquiry on the nation's university campuses." In its March 2003 newsletter, the ASA released a statement entitled, "Intellectual Freedom in a Time of War." The report states that, "Free and frank intellectual inquiry is under assault by overt legislative acts and by a chilling effect of secrecy and intimidation in the government, media and on college campuses." More specifically, ASA concludes, "the threat of war should not restrict public debate, as it often has in our nation's past. Vigorous debate and the widest possible discussion are crucial to the health of our democracy." The statement also questions recent governmental legislation resulting from the September 11 attacks, such as the Freedom of Information Act and the USA Patriot Act, which, according to the ASA, infringe on access rights of scholars and citizens. The current questioning of academic freedom carries haunting reverberations of the Red Scare. According to the ASA, "We hear disturbing echoes of World War I and the McCarthy era, when the government imprisoned its critics, and institutions of higher learning dismissed antiwar or 'subversive' professors."

Meanwhile, other organizations are keeping a close eye on what is being discussed about September 11 and the Iraq war in college and university classrooms. No Indoctrination <http://www.noindoctrination.org> and Campus Watch <http://www.campus-watch.org>, for instance, strive to expose professors they feel propagate political biases, and document these occurrences on the web. No Indoctrination, founded by president and parent Luann Wright, describes itself as "an organization of parents who are disturbed that sociopolitical agendas have been allowed to permeate college courses and orientation programs." The No Indoctrination web site announces it exists for "promoting open inquiry in academia" and providing an open forum for students to report professors and course materials they feel are biased. Rather than challenging academic freedom, No Indoctrination's claims its mission is to ensure it by encouraging "multiple and contrasting points of view in higher education." To do so, the web site maintains lists of students' opinions about professors and encourages students to submit unsettling book lists and syllabi distributed in the classroom. One student complains on the No Indoctrination site that his history professor "often refers to the conflict with Iraq as 'President Bush's war with Iraq.' Once he even informed us that the only reason we were interested in removing Saddam was 'for the oil.'" No Indoctrination also offers professors an opportunity to refute students' comments.

Campus Watch <http://www.campus-watch.org>, sponsored by the Philadelphia based think tank, Middle East Forum, "monitors and critiques Middle East studies in North America, with an aim to improving them." The project, while asserting that it "respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on freedom to comment on their words and deeds" is currently under attack for posting dossiers accusing numerous professors and students of bias. (These dossiers have since been removed).

Campus Watch has also spurred student activism in the form of an opposing web site, Campus Watch-WATCH, <http://www.campus-watch-watch.com>. The site, "dedicated to the preservation, and indeed expansion of academic freedom in the face of McCarthyite attacks," condemns groups such as Campus Watch and American Council of Trustees and Alumni, along with others believed to threaten academic freedom. Campus Watch-WATCH claims to honor educators who "have been attacked for providing a voice of justice."

While liberals often label the questioning of free speech activity and the documenting of academic practices as a modern form of McCarthyism, conservatives present their protection of higher education from internal biases as a beneficial measure. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) (see <http://www.goacta.org>), directed by Lynne V. Cheney, asserts that its mission is to work with university administration and alumni to "support liberal arts education, uphold academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives a philosophically-balanced, open-minded, high-quality education at an affordable price." It says, in other words, it wants to preserve the tradition of objectivity in academia. ACTA's statement on academic freedom suggests that "the threat to academic freedom comes from within. The barbarians are not at the gates; they are inside the walls." ACTA further maintains, "Professors who once preached objectivity now celebrate subjectivity. The measure is not the truth but power--especially the power of one's race, class, and gender. The aim is not to educate the young to think for themselves but to transform them into 'change agents' for the professor's own brand of social engineering." ACTA encourages everyone, especially trustees, to secure the university environment as a forum for free thinking and as a foundation of traditional teaching practices.

Perhaps one of the most crucial lessons our country might realize in response to September 11 and the war with Iraq is the importance of exploring and understanding all sides of an argument. Disagreements over subjectivity and objectivity, exploitation methods, and political correctness, though seemingly a sign of cracks in the foundation of our unity, reveal, in fact, the strength of our democracy. As the fury rages on, perhaps it is important to frame these discussions in relation to the liberties upon which the United States was originally founded, liberties which allow opposing viewpoints to be expressed in the first place.

Amber Hussung is a junior at Indiana University double-majoring in Communication and Culture and English.