Utah State Students Adopt the Academic Bill of Rights

FrontPageMagazine.com ^ | Friday, November 14, 2003 | By Gabriel White

[JohnHuang2]

Utah State Students Adopt the Academic Bill of Rights
By Gabriel White
FrontPageMagazine.com | November 14, 2003

The Associated Students of Utah State University Executive Council voted 9 to 5 with one abstention to approve a resolution entitled “The Academic Bill of Rights.”  According to Gabriel White, Senator for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and the sponsor of the legislation, “Academic freedom is something that we have always valued here at Utah State University.”  “It is important that we as students stand up to the bias on campus.”  The resolution has as its goal to support intellectual diversity on USU Campus.  Some of the provisions of the legislation include:

• Faculty will not use their courses for the purpose of political, ideological, religious or non-religious indoctrination.
• Selection of speakers, allocation of funds for speakers programs and other student activities will observe the principles of academic freedom and promote intellectual pluralism.
• Curricula and reading lists in the humanities and social sciences should reflect the uncertainty and unsettled character of all human knowledge in these areas by providing students with dissenting sources and viewpoints where appropriate, and that instructors should consider and make their students aware of other viewpoints.

Institutions who profess academic freedom should eschew ideological, political, or religious litmus tests in grading, or during hiring, firing, or tenure decision processes, and legislators should avoid such impositions through their control of the university budget.

[JohnHuang2]

Friday, November 14, 2003

Quote of the Day by OldFriend

[MegaSilver]

There may be hope for Academia yet...

[kitkat]

God bless the nine students at Utah State University who had the courage to do this. Liberal Bill Cosby spoke at the State University in Buffalo last night to a standing-room only crowd in a very big arena. GAG!

[StrictTime]

If this acutally has any teeth, I will have to remember this when it comes time for my sons to consider colleges. It's amazing to me that colleges and universities don't recognize the HUGE enrollment potential ($$) in labeling yourself a "conservative" or at least "neutral" institution.

[Donaeus]

Hoorah for Utah State University!! Let's hope this catches on at other schools soon like my beloved adopted Texas A&M. I know my alma mater, Texas Woman's University, won't sign on til they're absolutely forced.