News Flash from NoIndoctrination.org

Letter Sent from NoIndoctrination.org to
UC Academic Senate Members

Date: May 27, 2003

Dear Academic Senate Member,

We apologize for the email format, but time constraints make this our only option. It is our understanding that the Academic Senate may vote on the Atkinson/Post revision of APM-010 (the UC Academic Freedom Statement) at its May 28 meeting. We believe this revision omits important safeguards that protect students' academic freedom.

By way of introduction, my name is Luann Wright. I have founded a non-profit, non-partisan organization that sponsors a website called NoIndoctrination.org. My organization firmly believes in academic freedom. Without it, the freedom to explore, publish, teach, and express oneself in the university would be seriously compromised. Indeed, a university's mission and vitality depend on academic freedom. However, classroom indoctrination (whether coming from the left or from the right) denies students their academic freedom and cannot be construed as a faculty right.

The following statements are part of the current UC document on Academic Freedom, but would be ELIMINATED if the Atkinson/Post proposal is adopted:

* "To convert, or to make converts, is alien and hostile to this dispassionate duty. Where it becomes necessary, in performing this function of a university, to consider political, social, or sectarian movements, they are dissected and examined - not taught, and the conclusion left, with no tipping of the scales, to the logic of the facts."

* "Essentially the freedom of a university is the freedom of competent persons in the classroom. In order to protect this freedom, the University assumes the right to prevent exploitation of its prestige by unqualified persons or by those who would use it as a platform for propaganda."

* "... the University will steadily continue to fulfill, serving the people by providing facilities for investigation and teaching free from domination by parties, sects, or selfish interests."

These guidelines help provide a potential system of checks and balances within the academic community. While some have said that the Faculty Code of Conduct (APM-015) is a substitute for the safeguards in the current APM-010, it is not.

Faculty must be free in the classroom to express their opinion and "take" on issues relevant to their courses, but there are some who view the classroom as a bully pulpit - a "platform for propaganda." Many UC students report that they have been ideologically browbeaten, intimidated, and/or forced to endure highly and inappropriately politicized courses (often in mandatory courses, such as writing). Even thoroughly mainstream sociopolitical views are silenced, ridiculed, or treated with open hostility by some UC instructors.

As a last resort, these students turn to NoIndoctrination.org to express their utter frustration with classroom abuses. As one UCSB student reported to us, "I always felt that in [my instructor's] eyes I was an enemy, not a young student who had come there to learn and discuss and debate. She did not want to hear what I had to say if I did not agree with her. She was not open, she only wanted to silence the other side to the story. It seemed ridiculous because here she was teaching freedom and equality, yet she was discriminating against me based on my political views."

We urge you to examine postings on NoIndoctrination.org, and to read some of the campus newspaper articles linked on this website, to get a sense of how widespread and serious this problem is. In light of the problem, for the UC system to change the academic freedom statement in a way that appears to condone politicization and indoctrination in the classroom seems to us nothing short of scandalous. We believe that many California residents share this point of view. Indeed, hundreds of citizens have already written Academic Senate Chair Binion to voice their concerns about this proposal (as I would imagine she has already informed you), and a number of UC student newspaper articles and editorials have offered thoughtful commentary. These articles, a discourse between Academic Senate Chair Binion and NoIndoctrination.org, as well as student postings concerning perceived abuses can all be accessed from our homepage, http://www.NoIndoctrination.org.

We ask that you avoid making any hasty decision on this difficult matter and to postpone any decision on this until the concerns raised here can be considered and addressed. A rushed change in policy that visibly weakens safeguards against abusive behavior in the classroom cannot reflect well on the UC Faculty, and would seem particularly ill-timed in light of the severe resource limitations facing the State of California.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Luann Wright
President
NoIndoctrination.org