The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1916-01-27
ACADEMIC FREEDOM

L there r-zE academic freedom IL
-s-icz1 colleges and universities
A-= professors zIoEsd 10 srezE tteir
LT15s E-@sly, Or are they merely
! "Ezrsd Ezsz 70 D. engaged gzi dis
charged yEtL0zt assigned carse q TIE
pleasure q the university trustees
These and oths- questions affecting
free speesa II American Institutions
Ct higher learning are discussed By
d. g P. tzpel. specialist Il higher
education q the 5ZysaC Of etucatfoa
IN lis cl-e1- reTs~ OF the yez-
made to the secretary O. the interior
That thsre Il always gone pres
szre exe-ed IN academic coluu1i-
ues, es elsewhere. 10 keep radical
p-opzzaadis-s e1ie- and 70 discourage
destructive critics o. ne existing or
6er none viii deny, declares III.
Capez- Its extent varies with tie IN
sEfTttol- AZ -fe- il g sTeTsd
subtIy, often Uacoasc3ousfy. II large
universities TticL are supposedly
free Generally II Fsrishes - soon
as the right Of free spssch Il publicly
preached Within the past r-o OF
three years, however. there have been
50 many recur-erces Of disciplinary
action directed by trustees and presi>
dents Of prominent institutions
against professors rspu-ed To hold III
orthodox political, economic, or reI.-
gious views that the question o. acad-
e1oic freedom has become temporarily
one Of the foremost Issues in EniTer-
siry administration. Upon fts correct
settlement depends not onIv the in
tegrity Of the universities, but. more
lean education.
THE question Is particularly acute
in private foundations. Are the trus-
tees the employers Of iii persons
connected With the university, the
owners Of the business, as IL we're.
whose will is Law and not subject to
question? Has the faculty moral.
If not legal. right to be heard IN
matters relating to appointm ents and
dismissals IN state universities the
trustees are less likely 10 resort to
starchamber tactics because the pub
lie where the governing boards Of
state institutions have behaved "a IL
the institutions under their control
belonged to them, and neither the
educational officers nor the pubic --ad
the right to demand reasons Ior their
acts. Are any boards of trustees,
whether Of public or private institu-
tons, exempt from responsibility to
the IS any university, even
if partly or wholly supported by prf-
vate endowment, private institu-
ton? Does the measure OF it's &C
countabilitv to the public differ from
that of the state university"
Cases Of aneged breach Of academic
freedom during the past eighteen
months. affecting Lafayette college,
the University Of Utah. and the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, are reviewed
by DR.. Capen, together with the find
ings in each case as determined by
organizations of scholars who have
investigated. With regard to the
Nearing case at the University Of
Pennsylvania, DR.. Capen says:
Because of DR.. hearings advocacy
of child labor laws and his indict-
ment of various other forms of in
dustrial Observation-Disclosures which
have been sharply criticiseL in the
past by certain Of the more conserva-
tive elements among the constituency
of the university-the press of the
east and various groups of alumni,
faculty, and students have assumed
that these activities constitute the
grounds for his dismissal. The issue
has been interpreted as one of free
speech. The case has seemed to the
friends of academic freedom to be of
sufficient Importance to justly its in