Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Academic freedom not in jeopardy, SUNY trustees say
State University of New York trustees eschewed an “Academic Bill of Rights” being promoted to fight alleged liberal indoctrination in higher education, after a majority of college leaders and instructors told them Thursday such freedoms are not being suppressed.
Carl Wiezalis, president of the University Faculty Senate, said he has not seen evidence of discrimination against students or professors with different viewpoints. “I don’t think we need to be lectured by outside agencies,” he said.
He was referring to Students for Academic Freedom, a national group founded by David Horowitz, a conservative commentator. The group says the measure is needed across the country because the atmosphere at many schools doesn’t encourage intellectual diversity. Liberal arts faculties are “politically and philosophically one-sided,” according to the group’s Web site.
On Thursday, SUNY’s Academic Standards Committee listened to four college presidents, five faculty members and one student, most of whom said sufficient protections exist for academic freedom and there was no need for further action.
But David Staveley, a political science professor at SUNY Brockport, said there is an obvious lack of conservative viewpoints on campus. He has been called a right-wing fascist because he supports the war in Iraq.
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No state legislatures have come close to enacting the David Horowitz’s “academic bill of rights,” although Pennsylvania lawmakers have held a series of hearings designed to highlight instances in which they say political conservatives have been discriminated against on college campuses (The Chronicle, January 11).
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