ERIC Number: ED286389
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1986
Pages: 26
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Bassett to Kemp: Academic Freedom Today. The Eighth Earl V. Pullias Lecture in Higher and Postsecondary Education, 1986.
Sanford, Terry
The background on academic freedom in the United States and the current situation are discussed by former North Carolina Governor and Duke University President Terry Sanford. Academic freedom had not been established in the United States even as late as the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, the meaning of academic freedom or faculty rights was not clearly understood as the century turned. Three case studies are recounted: (1) John Spencer Bassett, a history professor at Duke, then Trinity College, who wrote an article in 1903 about the treatment of blacks; (2) Edward A. Ross, a faculty member at Stanford University in 1900 who defended Eugene V. Debs' actions/words; and (3) Jan Kemp, a professor at the University of Georgia in 1983 who taught remedial programs to athletes and who spoke out on corruption in the program. Today there is a trend toward: government regulation of scholarly activities, disruption and harassment of controversial speakers on campus, proposed surveillance of professors, and continuing college violations of academic freedom. It is suggested that faculty members have a duty, not just a right, to pursue controversial and untried propositions. (SW)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Dept. of Higher and Postsecondary Education.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A