February
15, 2005
Freedom of Speech Doesn't Imply Right to An Audience
By
Thomas Sowell
Professor
Ward Churchill of the University of Colorado seems to be
enjoying his 15 minutes of infamy for his childish rants
against people who were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Others
of course resent his cheap shots at the dead, and some are
trying to get him fired.
The
resulting controversy has wider implications for the understanding
-- and misunderstanding -- of what is meant by "academic
freedom."
However
symptomatic Professor Churchill may be of what is wrong
with academia today, his situation has nothing to do with
academic freedom. His remarks that provoked so much controversy
were not made in a classroom or even on campus.
There
are no real grounds for firing him under current rules and
practices -- which tells you what is wrong with those rules
and practices. Professor Churchill is protected by tenure
rules that are a much bigger problem than this one man or
this one episode.
In
this era of dumbed-down education, when rhetoric has replaced
both logic and evidence for many people, some think the
issue is "freedom of speech." Indeed, some critics of Professor
Churchill have been shouted down by his supporters, in the
name of freedom of speech.
Too
many people -- some of them judges -- seem to think that
freedom of speech means freedom from consequences for what
you have said. If you believe that, try insulting your boss
when you go to work tomorrow. Better yet, try insulting
your spouse before going to bed tonight.
While
this column is protected by freedom of speech, that does
not stop any editor from getting rid of it if he doesn't
like what I say. But, even if every editor across the length
and breadth of the country refused to carry this column,
that would be no violation of my freedom of speech.
Freedom
of speech does not imply a right to an audience. Otherwise
the audience would have no right to its own freedom. Editors,
movie producers, speakers' bureaus and other intermediaries
have every right to decide what they will and will not present
to their audiences.
Unfortunately,
many of those who talk the loudest and longest about "freedom
of speech" and "academic freedom" are in fact trying to
justify the imposition of propaganda on a captive audience
in our schools and colleges.
At
one college, some gutsy students start chanting "OT" --
for "off topic" -- when one of their professors starts making
political comments that have nothing to do with the subject
of his course.
Should
a professor of accounting or chemistry be fired for using
up class time to sound off about homelessness or the war
in Iraq? Yes!
There
is no high moral principle that prevents it. What prevents
it are tenure rules that have saddled so many colleges with
so many self-indulgent prima donnas who seem to think that
they are philosopher kings, when in fact they are often
grossly ignorant or misinformed outside the narrow confines
of their particular specialty.
Over
the years, the notion of academic freedom has expanded beyond
autonomy within one's academic field to faculty governance
of colleges and universities in general. Thus professors
decide whether the institution's endowment can be invested
in companies or countries that are out of favor among the
anointed, or whether students will be allowed to join fraternities
or the Reserve Officers Training Corps.
There
is nothing in specialized academic expertise which makes
professors' opinions on issues outside their specialty any
better than anyone else's opinions. In no other institution
-- religious or secular, military or civilian -- are people
who make decisions that shape the institution unable to
be fired when those decisions lead to bad results.
The
combination of tenure and academic self-governance is unique
-- and explains much of the atmosphere of self-indulgence
and irresponsibility on campus, of which Professor Ward
Churchill is just one extreme example. Re-thinking confused
notions of "academic freedom" is far more important than
firing Professor Churchill and thereby turning a jackass
into a martyr.
Copyright
2005 Creators Syndicate
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