Students For Academic Freedom

Conservatives Spell out Campus Rights · 30 April 2004

April 30, 2004

To the Editor:

I was pleased to see the recent Justice coverage of David Horowitz's visit to Brandeis and the Academic Bill of Rights initiative which he authored (Conservatives Spell out Campus Rights, by Brian Paternostro, 04/27).

Mr. Paternostro's reporting was excellent in most respects, but I must correct a few points in his article. First, the Academic Bill of Rights (ABOR) protects not only conservative students but all students, regardless of political viewpoint, from harassment due to their political and religious beliefs. The word "conservative" does not appear once in this document which states that "Students will be graded solely on the basis of their reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects and disciplines they study, not on the basis of their political or religious beliefs." Intellectual diversity and an atmosphere of open inquiry on campus are equally beneficial to all seeking an education, not just to those who possess a "minority" viewpoint, and the Bill's champions include many liberal-minded students as well as conservatives.

Secondly, the Academic Bill of Rights would not interfere with the "standards of the academic profession" as the AAUP quote alleges. In fact, the Academic Bill of Rights makes direct reference to those self-imposed standards when it states that "exposing students to the significant scholarly viewpoints on the subjects examined in their courses is a major responsibility of faculty." These standards would continue to be set by those in academia. The Bill merely asks that professors make an effort to cover the entire spectrum of academic views in any given subject.

I invite all Brandeis students to visit our website at www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org to learn more about how they can join the academic freedom movement.

Sincerely,
Sara Dogan
National Campus Director
Students for Academic Freedom
Sara@studentsforacademicfreedom.org

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