Academic

Which Way the Campaign Wind Blows

By Tommy Crocker

Yesterday I wrote about the concern that the biggest threat to academic freedom comes from sources outside academia, not from sources within. One example of the external pressure that may be brought to bear on academic institutions and individual academics is the controversy that surrounded Professor Ward Churchill at the University of Colorado. Many people in the public at large know who Churchill is (thanks in large part to Bill O?Reilly), and have supported his dismissal on various grounds that all stem from comments he made about 9/11. Whatever the ultimate merits of Churchill?s unhappy demise, the saga began from external pressure regarding comments he made in his role as an academic. I would like to think, however, that Churchill?s case is sui generis, but other cases like that of Norman Finkelstein might suggest otherwise (see Brian Leiter here and related, here).

The public at large now also knows about Professor William Ayers of the University of Chicago at Illinois. Professor Ayers is a former member of the violent revolutionary group, the Weather Underground. The McCain campaign has emphasized professional associations Sen. Obama had with Professor Ayers to suggest that Obama consorts with terrorists (and perhaps more darkly, to say as Gov. Palin has, that Sen. Obama is ?palling around with terrorists?). Although it is not easy to ensnare Sen. Obama within the baby-boomers? seemingly never-ending conflict (e.g., what were you doing during the 60s?), the McCain campaign managed to do so through Obama?s limited professional association with the older Ayers. The baiting has come home to roost, as has been widely reported, with persons at McCain/Palin rallies calling Obama himself a terrorist, among other terms of invective. The ploy to associate Sen. Obama with Prof. Ayers has also come home to roost in other ways, even here at the University of South Carolina.

The President of the University of South Carolina, Harris Pastides, issued a statement about the University?s ties to Professor Ayers. He has been an invited speaker at USC several times. This fact received attention by members of the state legislature, but no immediate action. In order to make an official statement about the University?s ties to Professor Ayers seem reasonable and necessary, I can only imagine how much additional pressure must have been brought by alumni and other South Carolinians. The official comment puts the public interest in the University?s ties like this: ?We have received some questions and comments from alumni and other members of the community about his interaction with our University.? The President also felt the need to quantify the public funds expended: ?As with any guest speaker, the University paid his travel expenses and a small stipend. The vast majority of the funds used were provided from private donor accounts designated for professional development and exchange of ideas among speakers and students and faculty. Total state funds used were $2,656, which covered 8 lectures over a 13-year period.? The President also clarified that ?[r]egarding Dr. Ayers' interaction with our University, it has been incorrectly communicated that Dr. Ayers holds the title of ?Distinguished Scholar? with the University of South Carolina. This is not true.?

What if it were true? Would the University have to revoke its academic ties to Prof Ayers because a partisan campaign made the public aware that he is a former member of the Weathermen?or, more true to the campaign?s message, that he is a former ?domestic terrorist?? That a partisan campaign ploy would cause a university president to have to justify entirely unrelated academic activities is disappointing, to say the very least. If controversy can surround having Professor Ayers speak at USC in his role as an education scholar, the role of external censure of academic life in South Carolina does seem to loom as a serious threat to the vitality of academic freedom.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on October 28, 2008 (boomark / email).