Seventh, the wind of freedom blows across national and cultural boundaries, it does not stop at them. Hutten, like many of his humanist friends, claimed the freedom to engage in fruitful contacts with whomsoever and wheresoever. We need to understand, appreciate and value differences, while realizing that without a common thread holding us together we shall be lost. Eighth, the wind of freedom cannot blow in a closed and stuffy ivory tower. Members of a university community must not shy away from the social and political issues of their time, from shaping the social and political values of society, from engaging in public service.
Public service is their freedom, indeed their obligation.
It is not, however, necessarily the university's freedom. A university's freedom and obligation are to provide a forum for the most searching and candid discussion of public issues. There is no mechanism by which it can reach a collective position without inhibiting that full freedom of dissent on which it thrives. It arises out of respect for free inquiry and the obligation to cherish a diversity of viewpoints. Finally, teaching, learning and research do not benefit from stagnant air but from fresh winds blowing.