THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 33, February 15, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
SCHOLAR ACTIVISM
By Asaf Romirowsky
ACADEMIC FREEDOM VERSUS PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY, FREEDOM OF THOUGHT & EXPRESSION, & ADHERENCE TO
WESTERN VALUES: ACADEMIC FREEDOM AS A MEANS BY WHICH RADICAL ACTIVIST, DISLOYAL PROFESSORS &
STUDENTS SHIELD THEMSELVES FROM OVERSIGHT, ACCOUNTABILITY, & THE DEMANDS OF GENUINE SCHOLARSHIP -- THE
REAL MEANING OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM, AS CURRENTLY APPLIED: FREEDOM FOR PROFESSORS TO POLITICALLY
INDOCTRINATE THEIR STUDENTS -- FREEDOM FOR ACADEMICS TO CURTAIL SPEECH THAT THEY FIND TO BE UNPLEASANT
& UNACCEPTABLE -- FREEDOM FOR RADICAL CAMPUS GROUPS TO ENGAGE IN PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS, RIOTING, &
OTHER DISRUPTIVE ACTIVITIES -- FREEDOM TO CRITIQUE DIRECTED MOSTLY AGAINST ISRAEL, AMERICA, & EFFORTS TO
DEFEND WESTERN CIVILIZATION
FULL STORY:
In 1915, John Dewey of Columbia University and Arthur Lovejoy of Johns Hopkins University came together with other
educators to establish the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), an organization designed to preserve
the integrity of the academy from a politicized donor-driven agenda.
The 1915 Declaration of Principles stated the principles for what academic freedom should be:
"... the freedoms of the academic teacher entail certain
correlative obligations.... The university teacher ... should,
if he is fit for his position, be a person of a fair and judicial
mind; he should, in dealing with such subjects, set forth
justly, without suppression or innuendo, the divergent
opinions of other investigators ... and he should, above
all, remember that his business is not to provide his
students with ready-made conclusions, but to train them
to think for themselves."
However, despite the above, free speech is not used almost interchangeably with academic freedom. Academic freedom is
being used as a "get-out-of-jail-free card" when a speaker, usually a self-described "scholar-activist," intends to thwart
oversight and accountability.
In the United States, whatever goes on in a classroom is deemed protected by "academic freedom," whether it is academic
or not. Only sexual harassment appears exempt from this blanket protection. Gradually, the entire campus has become an
"academic freedom" zone, where protests and other activities now qualify as academic "speech." The freedom to critique
is, predictably, directed mostly at the twin Satans, Israel and America, although efforts to curtail speech that academics
find unpleasant and unacceptable have been long standing in the form of "speech codes" and restrictions on "hate
speech." Clearly academic freedom is a one-way street; only those having the correct opinions may claim it.
A recent example of how "academic freedom" applies to those who are more equal than others was at Brown University,
when an invitation to the Egyptian-born speaker Nonie Darwish by a Jewish group was revoked when Muslim and Leftist
students opposed her views as too "controversial." Such reactive and pre-emptive efforts to control campus speech are
increasingly common.
Pre-emptive assaults against Israelis and Jews are becoming commonplace. In the United Kingdom, former Israeli generals
are regularly charged with "war crimes" to the point where they refuse to fly to London and are sometimes forced to return,
such as in the case with Brigadier General Aviv Kochavi. Universities have similarly expanded the bubble of "academic
freedom" to include pre-emptive restrictions on the participation of Israelis in journals, conferences, and graduate
education. The Orwellian inversion of "academic freedom" to mean freedom from Israelis is one more perverse outcome of
what began as efforts to protect professors from being fired for their politics.
Fortunately, in the United States, there are hopeful signs that some balance is returning to campus, or at least that
academics are now aware that they are under a spotlight. Recently, for example, a new guide for professors of Middle East
anthropology was released in an attempt to restore the credibility of a field of study whose reputation has been shattered
by years of politicized scholarship. The guide -- titled, Academic Freedom and Professional Responsibility after 9/11: A
Handbook for Scholars and Teachers and produced by the Taskforce on Middle East Anthropology -- illustrates the
effectiveness of critiques of Middle Eastern studies and higher education that have finally put the professoriate on the
defensive.
The guide usefully suggests that most classroom conflict can be used for educational purposes. If a student challenges
the use of "occupation" by a professor, the professor might discuss with the class why that term may or may not be
appropriate, as well as "political claims" associated with alternative terms, such as "disputed territories." The guide
advocates turning controversy into teaching, and, while it has the air of defensiveness, it is, by and large, a presentation
of fair principles.
Post-September 11, the most intense debates about "academic freedom" have involved Middle Eastern studies, especially
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The "right" to teach Israel as original sin and the Israel lobby as a Jewish conspiracy
controlling America has been challenged, and, unfortunately, has produced even more virulent rhetoric and overt attacks
on Jews. Academia has unconsciously exposed Jews and Israelis as the canaries in the coal mine. If universities are
indicators of social trends, then anti-Semitism is becoming more acceptable in the guise of anti-Zionism. Only Jews are
unworthy of having a sovereign state, thanks to various sins past and present.
Such attitudes are shockingly common on university campuses, and are protected by "academic freedom." Does calling
for the destruction of a state and the dispersal of a people qualify for the protections designed by Dewey and Lovejoy?
Fortunately, most Americans agree neither with the idea that Israel should be abolished nor with the blanket protections
that currently constitute "academic freedom." The gap between academia and the public is increasing, in part because,
on moral issues, like rigorous free speech and defending constitutional democracy against jihadi terror, the public realizes
that universities are on the wrong side.
But until donors and parents start asking questions about how their money is being spent and how their children are being
taught, the fight will be restricted to critics seeking to make academia a place where the classroom is once again the center
for teaching and learning, rather than political theater.
Until a mindset develops where donors ask questions about what is being done with their money, and until it is better
appreciated how a few tenured professors have gone beyond the bounds of their academic appointments, little will change.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Education & America's Schools
Jews & Anti-Semitism
The American Political & Cultural Left:
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
Israel -- The Israeli-Arab Conflict
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Islamism & Jihadism -- Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Asaf Romirowsky is a Campus Watch associate fellow for the Middle East Forum and the Manager of Israel & Middle
East Affairs for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
The foregoing article by Asaf Romirowsky was originally published in the Washington Times, February 14, 2007,
and can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
February 14, 2007
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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