All speech deserves protection
By Lauren Carruth

Since Sept. 11 we have all been trying to make sense of the enormous tragedies in New York and Washington D.C. Many of us in classes, forums and informal gatherings have asked, Why us? Why now? What now?

When we consider the complexity of the situation, the long history of terrorism and conflict in the Middle East, the moral, political, and economic interests of the United States (and indeed much of the Western world) in the Middle East and the ideals of democracy upon which our country and the international community were founded, some of us have found cause to question the legality and effectiveness of the actions our government is taking.

Please take time to read the short essay “Defending Civilization: How Our Universities are Failing America and What Can Be Done About it” provided by the Defense of Civilization Fund, whose spokesperson is Lynne Cheney, Vice President Dick Cheney’s wife, in which over 100 academics and professors have been blacklisted: stereotyped, unknowingly quoted out of context and accused of being un-American for asking the very questions many have found so natural and urgent. It has been made public both in the media and throughout the academic world, placing a target on the heads and careers of academics who have been portrayed and pigeonholed without informed consent.

The text, its supporters, a list of supposedly anti-American quotations and the academic perpetrators can be found at http://www.goacta.org/Reports/defciv.pdf. Does this sound like a McCarthy-era crucible? You betcha. This report is outrageous, illogical, unjust, presumptuous, ethnocentric, narrow-minded and unconstitutional.
Moreover, the primary argument advocating academics’ critical silence is not that it endangers the nation’s security or compromises military and diplomatic objectives, but rather that it doesn’t represent the 92 percent majority opinion!

In contrast, the American Association of Colleges and Universities, of which our university is a member, is an organization comprised of more than 730 colleges and universities that strives to strengthen, advance and articulate the aims of a 21st century liberal education. Its mission statement maintains, “A truly liberal education is one that prepares us to live responsible, productive and creative lives in a dramatically changing world. It is an education that fosters a well-grounded intellectual resilience, a disposition toward lifelong learning and an acceptance of responsibility for the ethical consequences of our ideas and actions.

Liberal education requires that we understand the foundations of knowledge and inquiry about nature, culture and society; that we master core skills of perception, analysis and expression; that we cultivate a respect for truth; that we recognize the importance of historical and cultural context; and that we explore connections among formal learning, citizenship and service to our communities. We experience the benefits of liberal learning by pursuing intellectual work that is honest, challenging and significant, and by preparing ourselves to use knowledge and power in responsible ways.”

If we in the academic world are no longer given the freedom to challenge and examine the ethical and legal consequences of our nation’s ideas and actions, we have simultaneously lost the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment and the freedoms secured by tenure and intellectual freedom of inquiry on college campuses.

But more importantly, our nation risks losing the contributions of academics and professors who will no longer feel safe to inquire freely into the most complex and historical of circumstances, including the expressions and directions of military intervention, conflict resolution, political action, human (not just American) rights and freedoms and even of America itself.

The patriotic must continue to embrace the unconditional championing of justice made subject to criticism, doubt, trial and logical review. Americans should accept no less.