Academic Freedom...



It seems that the trustees of my undergraduate alma mater have decided to notify the faculty that it is "unacceptable to teach, write or advocate on behalf of the issue of homosexuality." (I like how the GR Press writes that line ... on behalf of "the issue". Because God forbid we talk about real live people.)

Anyway, this has caused a bit of a stir on campus with the faculty, who were not consulted on the policy and are now rightly concerned about the limits of academic freedom on campus. It should be noted that the college isn't just affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church (a small very conservative evangelical denomination), but is owned by it. So they have a bit more latitude about what they can tell their professors to do, or in this case not to do in the classroom. For example, professors can't get tenure there unless they're members of the CRC, something that has caused some significant problems in the past with outstanding professors who refused to convert and then found jobs elsewhere.

Anyway, the academic freedom issues aside, since in this case that question seems a bit murky (after all, it isn't like people applying for positions there didn't know what they were getting into) the bigger issue to me seems to be the fact that apparently this policy says that professors can't advocate on behalf of "the issue" in their private lives either.

I've heard of colleges acting in loco parentis on behalf of their students. But I'm a bit surprised that adults would tolerate that level of control by their employer over their private lives.

Posted: Sun - August 30, 2009 at 03:31 PM        

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