Posts tagged with william.
Freedom of speech: where do universities stand?
When the University of Wyoming cancelled a speech by William Ayers - an infamous American left-wing 1960s radical who co-founded the defunct domestic terrorist group Weather Underground - following public pressure, including from several conservative politicians, it was following a trend that I find troubling.
Dr. Ayers is a professor of education at University of Illinois-Chicago and was invited to speak in his capacity as a well-known academic.
In a statement, the University said that "safety concerns" and "the interests of the UW community, including statewide constituencies" were factors in the decision to cancel Dr. Ayers' speech.
The UW statement was eerily similar to a letter sent earlier in March to Ann Coulter by the University of Ottawa's provost Francois Houle. Both letters claim the university is committed to free speech and the discussion of controversial ideas and then continue to discourage a liberal view of what constitutes free speech.
"Academic freedom is a core principle of any institution of higher education. But with that freedom comes an obligation to exercise free thought and free speech in concert with mutual respect and acknowledgment of broader resource and security impacts on the campus. The exercise of freedom requires a commensurate dose of responsibility," wrote Tom Buchanan, president of the University of Wyoming, in the university's statement.
Academic freedom seemed to be a secondary concern to the University of Wyoming when that freedom conflicted with community sensibilities and powerful lobbying interests. Dr. Buchanan continued, "The University of Wyoming is one of the few institutions remaining in today's environment that garners the confidence of the public. The visit by Professor Ayers would have adversely impacted that reputation."
This is not the first time that Dr. Ayers' has been unable to make an appearance due to the political firestorm of his past. Even in Canada, last year, Dr. Ayers was turned back at Toronto Island Airport when he tried to enter the country to speak at the University of Toronto.
Though the charges stemming from his radical activites were dropped at the time, due to prosecutorial misconduct, Dr. Ayers' past is the likely reason that he has been turned away on numerous occasions when trying to cross the border.
The Government of Canada does have legal grounds for turning away Dr. Ayers. The University of Wyoming did not. I see a troubling trend in universities, and society as a whole, to self-censor and curtail provocative speech when facing the threat of violence and disruption by radical elements. There was a time, for instance, that public libraries would host vigorous debates. Controversy is now avoided like the plague. And people seek to shut down controversial speakers, rather than debate them.
Society's greatest achievement, the liberal democracy, is a recent innovation in the ordering of human societies. The academy has a responsibility to be the bulwark that protects it against those who wish to stomp it out of existence. To smother free speech in the name of respect (in the sense that people should not be challenged or hear "uncomfortable" ideas) is to ultimately suffocate ourselves and stop the advancement of humanity.
It doesn't matter if the speaker is from the far-left or the far-right, they must be allowed to speak when invited to public universities.
In the end, in the United States, the judiciary branch continued to serve as the guardians of free speech - a role that truly should belong to the academy - and ordered the University of Wyoming to allow Dr. Ayers to speak. The speach occurred, without incident last Wednesday.
ASIDE: Dr. Ayers has contributed an article to the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations higher-education magazine Academic Matters this month. (http://www.academicmatters.ca/current_issue.article.gk?catalog_item_id=4069&category=/issues/APR2010)
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JOEY COLEMAN