ACADEMIC FREEDOM AT BROOKLYN COLLEGE
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ACADEMIC FREEDOM AT
BROOKLYN COLLEGE
Letter from Barbara Bowen to
Chancellor Matthew Goldstein
Click
here
for coverage of this issue in
the July 2005 Clarion and
here for the PSC
Academic Freedom Committee page
|
AN OPEN LETTER TO CHANCELLOR GOLDSTEIN ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM
June 3, 2005 Dr.
Matthew Goldstein Dear Chancellor Goldstein: Academic freedom at Brooklyn College is under attack. To date, the response from the administration of Brooklyn College and the Chancellor’s Office has been inadequate. College and University management have failed to defend either the principle of academic freedom or the rights of faculty members who have been targeted by a media campaign. As the elected representative of the instructional staff in matters of employment, I write to demand that you adhere to the principles of academic freedom articulated in the collective bargaining agreement. I call on you to take a public and unequivocal stand in defense of academic freedom. § In early May, Professor Timothy Shortell was elected Chair of the Department of Sociology in an election that conformed to all the requirements of the University Bylaws. On May 18 the right-wing newspaper The New York Sun reported on views Professor Shortell had expressed in his non-academic writing, and on May 23 this report was repeated in The Daily News. Contrary to the normal procedure following departmental elections, Brooklyn College President Christoph Kimmich responded in a letter to The Daily News on May 25 that he found Professor Shortell’s views “offensive” and that he had “convened a committee of high-ranking college officials and asked them to investigate the situation.” § On May 31, The New York Sun published a front-page article attacking the teaching of an untenured professor in the College of Education at Brooklyn, Professor Priya Parmar. The article relies on distorted accounts of what Professor Parmar taught—including a confusion between material she assigned students to read and her own views—and on criticisms of the class by two students who admitted to the undergraduate dean that they committed plagiarism in their final assignment. The article not only humiliates and undermines a faculty member, but also creates a climate of intimidation for all faculty at CUNY. There has been no public denunciation by the Chancellor’s Office of the attack, and, more important, no indication that the University condemns any attempt to intimidate its faculty. Academic freedom is a basic tenet of the collective bargaining agreement between the Professional Staff Congress and the University. It is invoked in the Preamble to the contract, where it is stated as a principle as fundamental to the contract as the recognition of the union itself.
Academic freedom occupies such a prominent place in the contract because a serious university is inconceivable without it. In addition, the University has a Policy on Academic Freedom, with which it is contractually obligated to comply. In the chilly intellectual climate created by an absence of academic freedom, faculty may not feel free to pursue lines of inquiry wherever they lead—whether on stem cell research or evolution or education theory. A lack of academic freedom, quite simply, destroys the project of the university. Silence on this issue sends the message that CUNY is not serious about research, that CUNY does not value intellectual work, that CUNY will tolerate an atmosphere in which the real work of teaching and learning is impossible. As a union that supports the academic work of our members and the high aspirations of CUNY’s historic mission, the Professional Staff Congress finds this message unacceptable. We call on you to take the following immediate actions:
There is nothing innocent about articles such as the one in The Sun on Professor Parmar, especially timed as it was to follow the controversy ignited by The Sun itself about Professor Shortell’s election. Nor is there anything coincidental about attacks on academic freedom at the current historical and political moment. Nationally, we are seeing a wave of extremist attacks on academic freedom, often masquerading under such titles as “The Academic Bill of Rights.” The attacks are usually on faculty whose views are opposed by right-wing organizations, but they affect us all. Their intent is to silence critical voices in the academy, to dull the force of the academy as a source for new knowledge, and to create a climate in which all faculty members are looking over their shoulders as they teach, for fear of having their professional lives undermined by disinformation campaigns in the media. There is no place for this at CUNY, or anywhere in the academy. And there is especially no place at CUNY for attacks that have a racist character. The Sun’s screed about Professor Parmar, who is a woman of color, leaned heavily on a mischaracterization of her teaching on Standard English and Ebonics, and treated with contempt the idea that reducing social inequities is relevant to education. The contract between the Professional Staff Congress and the University signifies a shared commitment to academic freedom. It is time for you to send an unambiguous signal that the normal University procedures will be followed in the election of Professor Shortell and that witch-hunts of faculty will not be condoned at CUNY. Silence on this subject is not acceptable. The Professional Staff Congress and the entire academic community await your response. In solidarity, Barbara
Bowen |
Click
here
for coverage of this issue in
the July 2005 Clarion and
here for the PSC
Academic Freedom Committee page