In February, the Faculty Council of The University of Texas at Austin voted 41-5 in favor of a resolution “affirming the fundamental rights of academic freedom in its broadest sense, inclusive of research and teaching of race and gender theory”. The response from Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was immediate as he issued a statement which I quote in part: “Tenured professors must not be able to hide behind the phrase ‘academic freedom’ and then proceed to poison the minds of our next generation…..Universities across Texas are being taken over by tenured leftist professors, and it is high time that more oversight is provided…..During the upcoming 88th Legislative Session, one of my priorities will be eliminating tenure at all public universities in Texas…..”. There is a lot to like about Patrick’s response on this issue, on which I share his disgust with the UT faculty posture, and as a former member of the board of regents of one of our public universities, I am not a stranger to the controversies involved. Here are some thoughts and a caution:
- First, as well-noted in a recent essay on academic freedom by Nate Hochman, a National Review Fellow, the concept of academic freedom was never intended to be an absolute entitlement; rather, its just exercise operates within the confines of pre-existing institutional obligations, primarily to the pursuit of truth. And he quotes Russell Kirk as follows on the fundamental nature of these institutional confines: “Academic freedom may properly be restrained, in some degree, by the right of any society to ensure its own preservation”.
- Second, without this foundational understanding of academic freedom in pursuit of the truth, there can be no basis for the “rights” that have become attached to professional tenure.
- So to have any impact on tenure as we have come to know it, there must be a return to the original purpose of academic freedom in pursuit of truth, which will involve a major overhaul of academic culture. Short of that, I would caution the Lt. Gov. to be careful, because the progressive left is so dominant in higher education that, sad to say, the only means by which alternative views have any voice at all can be attributed to tenure, however flawed it has become.
Jim,
It may be passed time to examine the present model of higher education. Seldom do full, tenured professors teach classes any longer. The cost of college is astronomical and has outpaced increased costs in most other spheres of society.
You know this topic far better than I do. But, to the layman, who is listening to the proposals that we assume the debts of those students who pursued degrees that will have little value, something must be done to overhaul it.
Russell Kirk believed that the GI Bill and the commoditization of higher education began the depreciation of it. Foolish curriculum and degrees made even greater contributions to the declining value of a college education and fewer students graduate with the classic well-rounded liberal arts education that prepared them for a responsible role in our society.
Perhaps the liberal arts ought to be relegated to the high schools and taught thoroughly so that those students who choose the honorable path into the trades will be solid citizens, mindful of the opportunities and obligations of this life on earth. The maturity wrought from such learning would be preferrable to the marching in place for four years at many college campuses.
Higher education in America is working well in many of our best professional schools and at a few places like Hillsdale College that are true to the classical liberal arts. That’s it–the rest of it is a mess. Let the overhaul begin!
As someone who strongly supports the benefits of free enterprise of which you personally would be aware I have always been against tenure. Let the market work. When today the ratio of liberal to conservative professors in our colleges is 24 to 1 the market is not being properly served and the market is NOT working. And the parents know it.
My earliest remembrance of a college professor using his position to influence young minds was 1963. I was a 17 year old high school senior and a college government professor was speaking to our entire student body. Obviously, he wasn’t a fan of JFK when he criticized Kennedy for saying, “ask not what your government can do for you, but what you can do for your government”. Though only seventeen, I immediately recognized the misquote, as did some of my classmates.
Later, as a college student, I heard other professors regularly espouse their own liberal or conservative positions. However, at no time did I feel my classroom success depended on my agreement with their positions. I fear that is no longer the case and that’s too bad. The greatest thing college taught me was critical thinking, which is now sorely lacking throughout our society.
Agree totally with you and the follow-up comments on tenure. Things are out of control with these faculty dictator’s controlling the narrative under the guise of academic freedom. I think Patrick will have a hard time doing away with tenure, but we need to start the discussion of exactly what it should be in a high profile/visible manner and who knows where it will end and what other states might join the fight. It’s a healthy exercise and the timing is perfect…
Institutions of higher learning have turned into Leftist propaganda mills, funded by the Federal Student Loan program, and those loans can be “forgiven” by the Executive Branch as lender. It is simply a way to throw money at the school, funding the Leftists..
If the Left-Right spread is 24 to 1, tenure has become irrelevant. At places like my old university, Duke, there are now only leftists. But the cost of a Duke degree has become enormous.
Do we really want to keep this financial channel open? Recall that the Student Loan Program was taken over by Barack Hussein. There was purpose to that move!
God bless Hillsdale College. I certainly do, financially.
Dr. Tom, I attended Duke as well and I observe the same. It is heartbreaking to the extent that I have stopped donating back to the university and will not encourage my children to consider it in a few years for their higher education.
Duke will not change in a “few years”. Its pseudogothic Methodist chapel, the hallmark of the university as you recall, has been turned over to Muslims for their 5x/day “prayers”.