In defense of academic freedom

Editorial Board LA Loyolan (Loyola Marymount)
Nov. 19, 2012

Are “Catholic university” and “academic freedom” contradictory terms? It’s certainly starting to seem that some people want it that way, both here at LMU and at other Catholic institutions.

We’ve written Board Editorials on the topic of academic freedom before, related to the reading of the marriage equality play “8” on campus and Dr. Christopher Kaczor’s talk on his pro-life book (see the Sept. 6 and Oct. 18 issues of the Loyolan, respectively). LMU attracted the attention of Catholic bloggers (like the Cardinal Newman Society) when our president chose to uphold academic freedom and let the marriage equality discussion occur. And consequently, we as an institution have had our dedication to our Catholic identity called into question.

This struggle of balancing Catholic identity and academic freedom is not unique to LMU. University of San Diego’s (USD) president, Mary Lyons, recently rescinded an offer to a scholar to serve as an honorary fellow at the university. The scholar, British theologian Tina Beattie, co-signed a letter with dozens of other prominent Catholics in which they voiced their support for marriage equality. Lyons then uninvited Beattie to USD’s campus.

In a post on her personal blog, Marginal Musings, Beattie explains, “The cancellation of my visit is not the most important issue in all this. The real issues are academic freedom … and the power of a hostile minority of bloggers.”

On the other side of the political spectrum, Fordham University, a Jesuit institution in New York, recently cancelled outspoken conservative Ann Coulter’s visit to campus. A petition calling for Coulter to be banned from campus said, “There is no room at a university whose motto is ‘men and women for and with others’” for Coulter to speak. The president of Fordham, Fr. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., wrote a letter expressing his disappointment that she was being brought to campus. Although he did not call for the organization to cancel Coulter’s appearance on campus, the group announced shortly after that Coulter would no longer be speaking. In response to the cancellation of Coulter’s appearance, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Greg Lukianoff is quoted in an Insidehighered.com post as saying that in issues like this, “when you talk to the students themselves [who scheduled the event], it’s pretty clear that they understood they did not have much choice in the matter.”

As the issue of what academic freedom is on a Catholic campus becomes national, we again have to ask why there’s seemingly a push to censor discourse “in the name of” Catholic identity. Abortion, marriage equality and extreme conservatism – and how all of these relate to religion – are topical and important to discuss. Hearing speakers with strong opinions on any such topic, regardless of listeners’ personal stances, will hopefully generate a debate to help students form their own perspectives. Why, then, shouldn’t they be talked about in an academic setting? We’re proud to say LMU stood its ground in its defense of academic freedom this semester. We’re proud to say LMU upheld the Jesuit ideal of teaching how to think, not what to think. But it’s disappointing to witness the pressure Catholic universities face to self-censor, and it’s even more upsetting to know other Catholic schools have succumbed to that pressure.

See previous reports here and here