ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO ATTACKS ON RESEARCHERS

Academic freedom is the glue that holds the university together, the principle that protects its educational mission. It is the principle that guarantees faculty members the right to speak and write as they please without interference from the university, the state, or the public. From the outset academic freedom was vested simultaneously in individuals and in institutions. It was designed at once to protect the independence of disciplinary inquiry and to protect individuals from the exercise of political and economic power, including the power of those who pay professors' salaries.

University scientists and other academics play a critical role in developing knowledge and informing public understanding and public policy—and they must have the ability to pursue sometimes controversial lines of research. Their work has come increasingly under attack in recent years by increasingly sophisticated methods, and institutions need better methods to respond. I will discuss ways that universities can insulate faculty and staff from efforts to intimidate or silence them, and will also touch on ways that faculty and staff can protect themselves.