CUNY’s Chancellor Enters Fray Over Academic Freedom

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The chancellor of the City University of New York entered one of the most hotly discussed debates in academia, saying the scope of academic freedom protections should be extended not just to faculty members but to their critics as well.


The freedom in academia to express contentious views does not belong to faculty members alone but to students and administrators, the chancellor, Matthew Goldstein, said.


While not referring specifically to any incident at CUNY, Mr. Goldstein’s statement, published Friday on CUNY’s Web site, appeared to be a rejoinder to recent accusations from within the university system that academic freedom is under attack at CUNY. The chancellor’s message also comes on the heels of recent attempts by university leaders, including Columbia University’s Lee Bollinger and New York University’s John Sexton, to sharply define the boundaries of academic freedom.


The most notable criticism of CUNY’s policies came from the president of the Professional Staff Congress faculty union, Barbara Bowen, who in a June 3 letter to Mr. Goldstein accused the university and CUNY college officials of failing to defend faculty members whom she claimed were targeted by the press.


Mr. Goldstein’s statement seemed to challenge the notion put forth by Ms. Bowen that university administrations are obligated to ensure that faculty members are shielded from public criticism. Mr. Goldstein’s statement also rejected the idea that it is inappropriate for college presidents to express disagreement with a scholar’s position.


“The University encourages informed discussion and expects its faculty members to pursue rigorous thinking and debate without restraint. Such an expectation exists for other members of the University community, as well,” Mr. Goldstein said. “As faculty express their views, students and administrators must, as well.”


CUNY officials said Mr. Goldstein’s statement did not represent any change in university policies. “This statement is not directed at one individual or group,” a spokesman for CUNY, Michael Arena, said. “It’s a reaffirmation of policies that have been in place.”


In her letter, Ms. Bowen cited the case of an associate professor of sociology at Brooklyn College, Timothy Shortell, who faced public scrutiny after press reports appeared about an essay he wrote that described religious people as “moral retards.” Mr. Shortell dropped his bid to become chairman of the department after the college’s president, Christoph Kimmich, put his appointment on hold and, in a letter to the New York Daily News, called Mr. Shortell’s writings “offensive.”


“While his right to express these views is protected, what is not protected is the injection of views like these into the classroom or into any administrative duties he might assume as chair of the sociology department,” Mr. Kimmich wrote in the letter. At CUNY, elections of department chairmen are subject to the approval of the president and the board of trustees. In his statement, Mr. Goldstein said: “Administrators are often confronted with the need to participate in an ongoing debate, responding to strongly expressed opinions. As part of the continuing dialogue, the University supports the right of administrators to take an opposing viewpoint, so long as their stance does not imply punitive action or retribution.”


Mr. Goldstein in his statement also said that some demands made by faculty unions to protect academic freedom of scholars “have more to do with job security than to the right of free expression in teaching, research, writing, or political activities.” CUNY’s union has said that the university violated academic freedom in cases involving two fired adjunct scholars, Mohamed Yousry at York College and Susan Rosenberg, an adjunct lecturer in the thematic studies program at John Jay College.


Yousry lost his job at York after he was indicted on terrorism charges related to the trial of attorney Lynne Stewart. In February, a federal jury in Manhattan convicted Stewart and Yousry of aiding Islamic terrorists by acting as couriers. John Jay refused to renew Ms. Rosenberg’s contract after press reports came out about her criminal past as a member of the Weather Underground. She served 16 years in federal prison for possessing explosives and unregistered firearms and was granted clemency by President Clinton in January 2001.


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