Illinois college adopts academic freedom measures

In 2007 and 2008, similar legislation was proposed in the Missouri House.

By Emily Morris

Published April 23, 2009

Correction appended

Controversial legislation that had been introduced unsuccessfully in several state capitols a few years ago was passed at an Illinois community college last week.

The College of DuPage has enacted new "academic freedom" guidelines. The College of DuPage is the third largest community college campus in the U.S. with an enrollment of 31,000 students and is located in the suburbs of Chicago. These policies resemble the Academic Bill of Rights created by political activist David Horowitz nearly five years ago.

The legislation was intended to protect student speech against professors who bring political ideologies with them into the classroom. The bill would have prohibited faculty from using their courses for the purpose of political, ideological, religious or anti-religious indoctrination. Horowitz also calls for material in the social sciences and humanities to "reflect the uncertainty and unsettled character of all human knowledge."

This legislation has appeared in the Missouri state house.

In 2007, then-Rep. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, proposed the Emily Brooker Intellectual Diversity Act, which contained language from Horowitz's legislation. The bill was named for a Missouri State University graduate who said her religious rights had been violated when her professor required his class to send mail to the Missouri legislature to voice their support for gay adoption. The bill passed the House, and the Senate Education Committee, but was never brought up for a final vote in the Senate. Cunningham proposed the bill again the following year, and it failed to leave the House Higher Education Committee. Now a senator, Cunningham proposed the same bill in the upper chamber this year, which was sent to the Senate Education Committee in March and has remained there since.

Cunningham's bill would have also required each public college and university in the state to report to the Coordinating Board for Higher Education what steps they have taken to promote intellectual diversity on campus.

Cunningham Chief of Staff Lucy LePage said in an e-mail that the office has not heard if the bill would be brought up for a hearing in the committee.

"I don't think Senator Cunningham will give up on the idea," LePage said.

Sara Dogan, the national campus director for Students for Academic Freedom, which supports the legislation, said the bill would "protect the freedom of their students."

"If students don't feel free to speak their minds, they are probably not going to get a good education," Dogan said.

Many college professors across the country have opposed the legislation. The American Association of University Professors has opposed the legislation since it was first proposed in 2003. In a letter issued by the organization that year, the organization said the bill "undermines the very academic freedom the bill claims to support."

Faculty members at the College of DuPage have voiced their opposition to the legislation.

Lisa Higgins, the vice president of the College of DuPage Faculty Association, told the school's Board of Trustees in December that students and faculty should be alarmed by the legislation.

"As an institution, it is imperative that we maintain our accreditation, ensure that our classes and degrees are transferable and maintain quality standards," Higgins said in the prepared statement. "Adopting ABOR and putting the Board in charge of curriculum would jeopardize everything COD has to offer."

College of DuPage spokesman Bill Troyer said the board would not intentionally abridge academic freedom.

"We're all for open exchange of ideas and an open exchange of ideas will always be encouraged here," Troyer said.