Chapter 6 Reading Notes

Academic Freedom
 Job security was vast in the 19th century, a professor’s job could be taken at any
moment, since the authority was placed with the president and those on the president’s
board. They would be able to dismiss professors as they please
 Eventually the determining factor of if a professor would continue to teach or not was
now shifted to the political field; if they had differing views that could be seen as
‘damaging’ or ‘inciting chaos’, then they could be fired
- George M Steele (President of Lawrence College, 1892): Fired for leaning
toward free trade and greenbacks
- John R Commons (Economist at Indiana University, 1896): Fired for
circulating controversial political views
- Edward A. Ross (Stanford University, 1900): caused the most controversy at
the time, he spoke on opposing Asian immigration but did NOT oppose
municipal ownership of public utilities, the wife of the university founder did
not like that and called for the president at the time to demand his
resignation. The president, David Star Jordan, was a friend of Ross’s but did
not want to go against the founder’s wife so he did fire Ross. Many people
were against the decision and also quit in protest, but Ross never recovered
his position
 The Ross case opened up the debate about freedom of teaching and research, as well as
what an appropriate expression of belief looks like
- Defenders of Ross’s case believed that there should be protection over both
what is taught inside the classroom and written as a publication, as well as
‘extramural’ utterances (what’s said personally, outside of the classroom)
- Felt that if outside factors (especially businesses or trustee members) were
able to dictate what professors say, that scholarship in an institution would
be threatened and lack integrity
- Those who supported President Jordan’s action in firing Edward Ross tended
to respond in one of three ways: denying there was any vital principle of
academic freedom at stake; denouncing academic freedom as an archaic and
outmoded concept lacking current application; or affirming freedom in the
abstract while insisting that professorial prerogatives should always be kept
subordinate to an institution’s legitimate concern for its reputation (p.204)
- By the end of the case, most academic institution heads came to agree that
there is still academic freedom and freedom of speech, but there is also
responsibility of your freedom of speech so you will need to accept any
repercussions earned from what you say as a “reasonable person”.
 Along with academic freedom and job security, professors were beginning to demand
higher wages
- At this time (late 19th cent.- early 20th cent.), there were no legal
opportunities to enforce their demands
 - There was still an overlying fear that they could be fired at any moment and
they were getting paid very little (about the same as a skilled industrial
worker)
 Early 1915, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) was formed
- Came together through discussions and planning conducted by the American
Economic Association, the American Sociological Society, and the American
Political Science Association
- Early on, people felt the AAUP resembled unionism, so they were hesitant to
agree with the movement
- They received a lot of criticism in their early development, the New York
Times basically stated that having the association would give way to too
many professors who basically just wanted to complain, not get anything
actually done for their complaints and still get paid by their institutions
- Despite the criticism, they did draft and release their Statement of Principles,
which emphasized that professors should be able to speak from their own
authority and should not just have to echo the opinions of their institutions
- AAUP ended up become the most influential and important defender of
professorial tenure and academic freedom
- World War 1 did test the limitations of these protections, as the war did give
way to extremist beliefs being shared by educators and stood behind
publicly, but both sides of the argument were taken very seriously and
eventually German sympathizers were losing their jobs when they were
sharing their beliefs in the academic setting
 After the war, the nation began to fall into the depression and institutions began to
wonder if they were adequate to deal with the collapse
- States began to pass legislations requiring teachers to affirm their loyalty to
the state and federal constitutions
- AAUP held committees to consider if these involuntary loyalty oaths were a
threat to academic freedom
- The AAUP and Association of American Colleges came together to come up
with a restatement of principles in 1940
o The restatement reaffirmed professors’ rights to freedom of
expression and continued to express that academic freedom is
essential to having academic institutions committed to the common
good and continuing the search for truth and free exposition
o They did make sure to clarify that educators of all kind should be
mindful to not introduce controversial matters in their teachings to
refrain from giving the public any reason to take their words and use
them to make judgement about their respective institutions
o Most read document on the basis of higher education of the 20th
century
College Students and Campus Life
 As the number of undergrads began to grow over the early years of the 20 th century,
attending college now became the “pleasant interlude between the end of adolescence
and the assumption of adult responsibilities” (P.208)
- Students pretty much looked at school at this time like an extension of their
adolescents: time to make new friends, socialize, indulge in good times; they
were rarely studying hard and resented professors that held them to high
standards
- Professors began to do unannounced exams to try and keep students
accountable, but they ended up protesting; teachers assigned essays and
students began a ‘black market’ of material (basically buying essays from
each other and information from the classes), students who never attended
classes were still receiving passing grades because they were hiring private
tutors to help them prepare last minute for exams (cram sessions)
- Those who had achieved degrees sent their children to also achieve a degree,
but the importance was no longer on achieving academic achievement, but
only receiving this new credential and title
 This continued to separation between professors and their students; since students
were continuing to be immature in class and not giving attention to the lessons,
professors had to present with an icy and strict demeanor, now being portrayed as the
‘enemy’ to students
- Schools tried to bridge the gap by holding faculty teas, or mentorships, but
the students still did not take those seriously
- “If young gentlemen get from their years at college only manliness, esprit de
corps, a release of their social gifts, a training in give and take, a catholic
taste…and the standards of true sportsmen, they have gained much but they
have not gained what a college should give them” President Woodrow
Wilson (Princeton, 1909)
 The beginning of the Depression era, society no longer knew these institutions would
withstand this time
- Between 1935-1945, the govt. gave over $93 million to emergency assistance
for students
- Students tried to remain in school for as long as they could, especially if they
had no prospects for employment
- The college campus remained as a place of joy for students to experience
lighthearted events (football games, dances, parties)
- Despite the fun activities, the timing did give students the motivation to
become more socially aware of the financial and political climate of their
society, students began to join picket lines and protest marches, circulated
petitions, and stood for a multitude of causes that were important to them