The University Senate unanimously passed a resolution related to attacks on academic freedom and outside organizations blacklisting Syracuse University faculty members.

The resolution proposed the Senate decry “the blacklisting of our colleagues” and called upon members of the SU community to ensure that the lists aren’t used in hiring, promotion, tenure or other situations that require evaluation. Wednesday’s meeting also included reports from SU Chancellor Kent Syverud and from a member of the Middle States Steering Committee.

Dana Cloud, a professor of communication and rhetorical studies, recently appeared on a website called Professor Watchlist, which sets out to expose professors who the site believes “discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.”

Cloud addressed the Senate, and said she has been on similar blacklists since the early 2000s. She said she is concerned for young people and minorities that don’t have tenure-protection. She said that this resolution would help calm those concerns.

She said that if the Senate had passed a resolution like this when she first appeared on one of these lists that she would have felt “much more supported by the academic community.”

The 15-minute discussion was lively as Senate members vocally affirmed, snapped and nodded along with those voicing their support for the resolution.

There was some debate on wording within the resolution. The biggest point of contention rested on exclusively including “non-academic organizations” and not expanding that to include academic organizations as well.

The recommendations states, “Non-academic organizations, in hopes of silencing the expression of views with which they disagree, are increasingly turning to the tactic of blacklisting academics, creating photo galleries of targeted individuals and publishing their contact information to encourage their harassment, and encouraging students to engage in anonymous denunciations of academics to the lists.”

But several senators quickly refuted that grievance, saying that internally there are structures and policies in place to handle such situations.

The resolution also claims that academic freedom is essential to the “production, dissemination and exchange of knowledge,” and that protecting members of the university community from harassment is necessary for the preservation of academic freedom.

The vote was held with a voice call, despite the recently installed electronic voting system.

In his brief address to the Senate, Chancellor Syverud said he fully endorsed the resolution and that it falls in line with SU’s history of protecting academic freedom.

“It’s my belief is that this resolution is consistent with past history and past chancellors at Syracuse University, including Chancellor Tolley in the 1950s and the blacklist based on association with the communist party, and in the 1970s and the anti-war movement under Chancellor Eggers,” Syverud said.

He recognized that the administration sometimes “takes a while” to respond to Senate resolutions, but that delay was not necessary in this case.

Vice Chancellor and Provost Michelle Wheatly was not able to attend this week’s Senate meeting, but Syverud passed along a message from her regarding a memo on faculty and staff’s political activities circulated by Vice Chancellor of Strategic Initiatives and Innovations Mike Haynie on Feb. 27.

Some faculty members raised concerns during last week’s meeting over the memo. In the memo addressed to deans and department heads regarding making political speeches, Haynie cautioned that political activities of faculty and staff —  making political speeches and engaging in political activities — should not be taken as a reflective of SU’s position.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Syverud explained that the memo originated from Haynie’s office because he handles government relations, but that all further memos regarding academic freedom will come from the provost.

The floor was not opened up to questions as Syverud quickly introduced professor Rochelle Ford from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications to report on the Middle States Steering Committee.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an accreditation agency that is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. SU must apply for reaccreditation every 10 years.

 

Ford said SU has so far been found compliant by the federal government and under peer review, but that the university “still has work to do.” SU is currently under a self-review, and will present its areas of improvement to Middle States in spring 2018.

The entire campus community will be able to see the first draft of the self-study on April 18 and will be able to provide feedback at that time.

Other business:

• The presentation of nominees two open positions on the Senate’s Agenda Committee were postponed until the April meeting.

• Syverud encouraged Senate members to attend last night’s Take Back the Night event, which speaks out against sexual violence on campus. Advocating for the end of sexual assault and relationship violence is an important initiative for the chancellor and the university.

Published on March 29, 2017 at 10:53 pm

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu