New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-18
The Case for Academic Freedom
v University Professors Demand That Trustees BE RESTRICTED 10
The Handling Of Financial Affairs
Bv DR.. Joseph Alexander Leighton
Professor of Philosophy in Ohio State University
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: IL IL regrettable that the principles
ut issue in the resignation Of DR.. Beard from
IN. Columbia faculty should be obscured'
as Is the case In your recent editorial W
the ostensble grounds for Dr. SattelFs as
missal- namely, dsloyaty to America "'
war Whether DR.. CattelPs alleged pacihst
actiyitie, were put forward "a a camouhage
only President Butler and the trustees con-
cerned can tell Like DR.. Beard, radlcauy
disagree with tho attitude toward the war
attributed TO Dr. Cattell. | have advocated
our entrance into the war for over two years
and believe I'm pushing It TO a termination
by which the ruling group in Germany VIII
be utterly discredited and ruined at home
am for no peace with the Kaiser and ms
devils star chamber.
But the real issue In such cases, as many
OF US see it, is an issue on whose outcome
depends in large measure the further de-
velopment of a genuine university spirit IN
the United States. The vital issue IS this'
shall university policies as to freedom IN re-
search utterance and action on the part OF
university professors, and all questions that
may arise as TO the proper limitations ON the
exercise Of such freedom in the interests oil
public order be determined and enforced eH-
clusively by a small body Of men-the trus-
tees-who. by habits Of thought and action
arc for the most part relative strangers 20
the whole business of research and lnstruc-
tion7 Or shall the men whose lifework 10
the twofold one OF Independent research ana
independent instruction and utterance with
out which the life of research is manned and
wngless) have legal and effective part IN
the determination Of such policies?
Jury Of His Peers
Is the professor, when he is accused OF
propagating a dangerous heresy, economic
political or otherwise, entitled to be judged
By Jury OF his peers or is he TO be sum-
marily dealt with by body Of relative out
siders whose devotion TO the upbuildlng OF a
university, however generously manifested
carries with it no guarantee that they have a
sympathetic understanding Of the vocation
to which the professor has been called, espe-
cially with regard TO its inner ideals and
finer obligations? II a professor commits
treason or any other crime he ia amenable TO
the law of the land like any other citizen.
But II it be a question of whether he has
violated the ethics Of his own highly special
lied calling, should not his fellows be called
in judgment? Lawyers and physicians, who
NAV be within the law of the land, are sub
jected to such judgment by their fellows.
There is no greater anachronism, no more
striking anomaly in our democracy, than the
fact that a body Of men who have dedicated
themselves 10 the high and arduous task OF
discovering and lmparting scientific Chat is
systematically cleaned and organized
knowledge concerning vital human concerns
should be legally in status nothing more than
the hireings Of a corporation composed
usually of successful business men and fin
anciers. lawyers and, occasionally, physicians
and clergymen- whose vocations In most
cases are so remote in methods and charac-
ters from the business OF the university
scholar that they can have but little grasp
or insight with respect TO the conditions
under which alone the work OF the produc-
tive scholar can be carried on Legally, IN
most instances, trustees can dismiss the
greatest scholar or thinker In the university
for any alleged heresy. That they so sell
dom do so nowadays is to their credit as
sensible men and to the credit Of an enlight-
ened public opinion, in spite Of the feudal-
istic and bureaucratic constitution Of uni
versites).
Trustees Proper Functions
In the old days, when colleges were found
cd chiefly to support and propagate the secta-
nan faiths of religious bodies, 1t was consid-
cred right and proper that if the professor
Of biology, for instance, came into conflict
with the Baptist or Presbyterian faith he
must 90. The professor knew when he &C
cepted call the limitations under which
he must work. Moreover, these we're not
universities An institution founded and
maintained 10 propagate apy specific BODY
Of doctrine. whether theological, economic or
political, has no proper title to the name
university. To contend that the teachings
of university professors must agree with the
economic, political, social or religious faiths
OF trustees or Of the great body Of the public
whom they are commonly supposed TO repre-
sent is TO strike a fatal blow at the very tap