Hearing on Emily Brooker bill held on Wednesday
Published April 27, 2007
As the Missouri Senate considers intellectual diversity, the UM system has already evaluated its system to address grievances against intellectual discrimination, said Stephen Lehmkuhle, UM system senior vice president of Academic Affairs.
"Even if the legislation is not passed, we are committed at the University of Missouri to ensure a balance between academic rights and academic responsibilities," he said.
Lehmkuhle said Provost Brian Foster has already done an inventory on all policy and procedures in the system and had identified two weaknesses that need improvement. One change is creating a better mechanism for students to communicate about viewpoint discrimination in their classes, and the second is creating a better mechanism to track those complaints.
The Emily Brooker Intellectual Diversity Act passed the House of Representatives April 12 and is now awaiting action in the Senate after a hearing Wednesday. The bill would require state-funded universities to create an intellectual diversity policy; inform staff, faculty and students of the policy; submit a report to the Missouri General Assembly "detailing the steps the institution is taking to ensure intellectual diversity and the free exchange of ideas"; and post the report on the institution's Web site.
In October 2006, Emily Brooker, a former Missouri State University student, filed a lawsuit against the university for allegedly violating her free speech and religious rights. The incident inspired a bill in the Missouri General Assembly that now bears the plaintiff's name.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, said the legislation was spurred by the number of complaints she heard from students who feel they've been penalized or discriminated against by professors who do not share their point of view.
She cited a survey of 300 MU students and 300 Missouri State University students conducted by PULSAR Research that found 51 percent of students think they have to agree with their professors viewpoint to get a good grade.
"That is a very heavy problem for the legislature to ignore," Cunningham said. "To not enact even these modest measures would be irresponsible."
The bill contains a list of suggestions on steps universities could take to ensure academic diversity, but Cunningham said she is trying to keep the power in the universities' hands by not setting specific criteria in the policy.
Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, said the bill is a solution in search of a problem and the university already has many policies in place for students to address these types of grievances.
Baker cited a lecture held Tuesday night about why intelligent design is a legitimate theory. She said MU is already open to diverse ideas.
Lehmkuhle said he has not had any instances of academic or religious discrimination directly reported to him. He said while observing new faculty, he observed how passionate they are about certain issues.
"Academic freedom means we beat up on ideas, not each other," Lehmkuhle said. "If you can't talk about it at a university, where can you?"