Email sent to Bates College Representative Assembly members concerning Academic Bill of Rights

6/14/2005 | Nathaniel Walton

[nywalton]

Dear RA members,

The text below is that of an Email I sent to Bates faculty and administrators clearing up some of the misleading ideas regarding the Bates Academic Bill of Rights that had been going around amongst them as a result of somewhat misleading recent press coverage. I feel that I effectively addressed the true intentions of the resolution and the questions being raised that the RA that passed the resolution was unrepresentative. Since most of the recent discussion over the RA listserve to the contrary is coming from people who weren't even at the May 23 or any other Short Term RA meeting, I hope this helps them get a better grasp on the entire situation.

The organization that modeled the template for RA 05-36 is indeed spearheaded by prominent conservatives. The language in the resolution the RA passed, however, is void of any language that could be viewed as binding and simply encourages a type of atmosphere that I think we would all expect at Bates. Saying that this resolution makes it so the RA is promoting a conservative agenda or anything else along those lines is simply ridiculous. As the main sponsor of RA 05-36, I can say to you that my intentions were only that student leaders at Bates take a stand in defense of academic freedom and against unfair bias, conservative, liberal or otherwise.

Regardless, I think it is wonderful that this resolution has encouraged the RA to actually debate issues rather than its own rules.

Best,

Nate Walton --- Dear Bates Faculty/Administrators:

I am the sponsor of RA 05-36, the resolution endorsing the principles of Students for Academic Freedom's Academic Bill of Rights, which was passed unanimously by the Representative Assembly at its May 23 meeting. I am writing to inform Bates faculty and administrators my intentions in submitting this legislation. The purpose of the resolution was not to cast doubt on you as professionals nor to impugn your integrity in any way. Its purpose was to show that student leaders at Bates, as a renowned institution whose history is rooted in the principles of egalitarianism, feel that the college should adhere to the highest standards of ideological tolerance.

Some feel that this is already the case on campus and that this resolution is unnecessary. I agree that ideological imbalance is not as large a problem at Bates as it is at other colleges/universties; however, if the College is the haven of ideological tolerance that some argue it is, then the passage of this non-binding resolution should only serve to encourage the continuation of such a tolerant environment.

Recent news coverage of the Bates Academic Bill of Rights has inaccurately implied that RA 05-36 was passed by a small and unrepresentative group of student leaders. This is simply not the case. The Representative Assembly has 57 available seats that were elected in September. Certain members decided not to attend meetings over the course of the academic year and once they missed two or more meetings, they were removed from office. Unfortunately, reelecting students to these seats was not made a high priority by the RA leadership and overall membership of the body eventually settled near 25 by the winter semester. RA Chair Christopher Laconi decided that it might be beneficial to convene during Short Term, and, as a result, the total membership was reduced to 15. However, the level of commitment during those four Short Term meetings was much higher than during the fall and winter semesters, as was the diverstiy of the members who attended. There were 14 out of 15 RA members (93%) at the May 23 meeting - most meetings during the winter semester had 15 out of 25. This being the case, I feel strongly that RA 05-36 was debated and approved by a committed and representative group of student leaders. I respectfully request that efforts to discredit the legislation based on uninformed remarks to the contrary by Bates administrators and faculty please stop.

I encourage you to Email me with any questions/comments regarding any of this. I hope you all have a wonderful summer.

Sincerely,

Nathaniel Walton '08