Remember, our statement is a work in progress, so maybe you can give me some ideas today to bring back to Washington. America's higher education system is under the gun. Ds drive cabs, and the university remains a stronghold for radicals and other such undesirables. Worse, the critics claim, there's nothing you can do about this situation because the outdated institution of tenure buttresses all the academy's flaws. Tenure, like unions, is the enemy of progress and change.
Critics claim that tenure guarantees a lifetime job and tenured faculty are untouchable.
This assertion that tenure provides a lifetime job has galvanized much public hostility. It feeds into the perception that faculty are an odd lot accountable to no one. The trouble is, the assertion is false. Tenured faculty can be, and have been, terminated for adequate cause and in cases of financial exigency. Members of the academy know only too well that tenure does not guarantee a lifetime job.