Academic Freedom and Jerks

by Bill Tierney

Academic Freedom and Jerks

We frequently like to think of academic freedom by the following example: a noble professor has his or her rights infringed upon, the crowd stands up for the victim, and ultimately right wins out. Such cases are replete in our history.

We also have examples, however, when repugnant individuals need to be defended.  Indeed, I’ve written in the past about how one of the first cases of academic freedom is less that of a fellow who was speaking out on behalf of workers and more an example of a racist who used the worst possible language about Asian workers.  Edward Ross was also a eugenicist who lost his job at Stanford and went on to greater glory at Wisconsin.  As harsh as it sounds, however, we are not defending individuals; we are defending principles that benefit all of us.  Sometimes we need to defend individuals who leave much to be desired in order to defend a principle.

The most recent case of a jerk who needs to be defended is a professor at Cal State University Northridge.  On a private website and with a private email account he talked about sex tourism in Thailand.  He did not sell services or explicitly advocate illegal activities.  But he came up to the very line and was careful not to transgress it.  He also wrote as an individual, not as a professor.

Let’s leave aside for a minute his free speech rights as a citizen.  I am focused on his academic freedom.  Should he lose his job or be censured for what he has done?  What he has written, in my view, is sexist, obnoxious and abhorrent.  The president of the university affirmed the professor’s academic freedom, but wondered whether a student might feel uncomfortable in one of his classes if the student knew of the writing, and that this scenario might be grounds for punishment or sanction.

The whole story is here: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/04/22/sex

I do not believe this fellow should lose his job or be sanctioned.  He was not speaking as a professor when he penned his vulgar posts.  If a student complains that he or she is uncomfortable because of what someone writes as a private citizen, then we open the door for any number of complaints.  Isn’t it entirely conceivable that a Christian student could be made very uncomfortable by a gay professor who writes adamantly as a private citizen about gay rights?  Or vice versa: a gay student objects to the Christian professor who says that homosexuals will burn in hell.

Sometimes we have to defend people who are jerks.  And this is one of those cases.

The fellow took his website down, however, because he feared for his job and other hassles. Here’s the end of the story: http://bigbabykenny.com/