They wanted to make the work of individual NYU scientists the subject of debate. In other words, with a complete disregard for the issues of academic freedom from intellectual persecution, SEAL wanted to fashion a show trial about the work of NYU faculty members involved in legitimate scientific research because SEAL s members are opposed to any research involving animals. This is a profoundly wrong and troubling proposal. The fundamental principle of academic freedom is to permit legitimate scholars to conduct their work without fear or interference. This is not to say that there aren t frameworks for judging the value of an individual s scholarship.
Faculty members have their work sharply evaluated all the time.
The reason that the University participated in the first forum and has been trying to come to an agreement with SEAL on a second one is that SEAL members are members of this University community and participants in a recognized student organization. As such, they have a right to expect that there will be forums in which their views can be heard and expressed. But this is a ground-rule that SEAL rejects. Instead, they propose that we should feel equally obliged to address this issue with anyone they choose, that they can select any hired gun from any setting to come in to have a shot at NYU s programs and scientists. The world is full of recognized communities that have discussions among their own members that exclude others.