Robert O'Neil describes emerging threats to academic freedom

Robert O'Neil is a legal scholar, former president of the University of Virginia, and the founding director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. He is also author of the newly released book, Academic Freedom in the Wired World: Political Extremism, Corporate Power, and the University.

AFT On Campus contributing editor Chris Goff interviewed O'Neil in March to learn his thoughts about the challenges facing academic freedom in the 21st century and to get an update on some of his current projects. This interview first appeared on the Free Exchange On Campus Web site, www.freeexchangeoncampus.org.

Thank you for joining us, Professor O'Neil. What is your assessment of the current state of academic freedom? What do you think are the most pressing challenges we face in protecting it?
Academic freedom seems relatively secure with regard to traditional threats of the type that affected the university world a half century ago—threats such as loyalty oaths, legislative investigations, speaker bans and witch hunts. Repression that might well have been expected in such forms after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 turned out to be less severe than many observers feared. On the other hand, newer and, in some ways, equally ominous threats have recently emerged—intrusive pressures that accompany sponsored corporate research grants, restrictions on electronic communications within the academic community, hateful messages posted on Internet Web sites and other new media, and unsympathetic government policies affecting artistic expression in the academic world.

You've obviously dealt with these issues as a university president. What role do college and university administrators play in protecting academic freedom? What actions can administrators take in preventing its erosion?
In several critical ways, university administrators may and should enhance and protect academic freedom: reviewing (and if necessary revising) university personnel policies to ensure compliance with academic freedom; educating governing boards, alumni groups and (especially for public institutions) state and local government officials; holding junior administrators fully accountable for the handling and resolution of academic freedom issues; seizing opportunities ("teachable moments") involving academic freedom threats to enlighten the campus community; and using such scheduled events as decennial accreditation visits to focus campus attention on such matters.

One of your more recent projects has been the Difficult Dialogues initiative. Could you describe to our readers what this program is and what you hope it will accomplish?
An initiative of the Ford Foundation launched in December 2005, Difficult Dialogues has involved 27 grantees (each receiving $100,000) and 16 runners-up (each receiving $10,000) in addressing campus conflicts and tensions. The areas of primary focus (varying substantially from campus to campus) have been race, religion, Middle East dynamics, sexual orientation and other related challenges. All grantees were represented both at one of four regional conferences in late 2006 or early 2007, and at a national conference in the fall of 2007. The program will continue through 2010 within a somewhat different format to be announced in spring 2008. Meanwhile, information about the initiative may be found at www.difficultdialogues.org.

Academic freedom is typically understood as it relates to faculty rights. What value do you see for students in academic freedom, and do you have any concerns about the current environment as it might affect students?
While students do not enjoy the same type of academic freedom as do professors, they are the clearest beneficiaries of policies and principles that protect the freedom of their instructors to study, teach, speak and write. Professors, meanwhile, are enjoined to avoid persistently intruding unrelated material into college courses, and may not proselytize in the classroom for partisan, religious or other purposes. University teachers are obligated to respect their students' opinions, to encourage students to take issue with professors' views, and to be scrupulously fair and objective in grading and assessing student achievement.

A lot of your work has involved bringing the concept of academic freedom "down from the ivory tower," as it were. What is the value for the general public in academic freedom? How do we engage the general public in a conversation about the importance of academic freedom?
Although university professors may seem the immediate beneficiaries of societal commitment to academic freedom, the ultimate gain is that of a far broader segment of society—students who seek knowledge at universities; lawmaking bodies that rely on candid, fearless advice and information from academic experts; news media (and their readers and viewers) who turn regularly to academics for insight; and corporations, foundations and other entities whose tasks are enlightened by unfettered guidance from university scholars.

Thank you again for speaking with us.