Sunday, September 21, 2003

On the need for an academic bill of rights

This David Limbaugh column about the David Horowitz proposal for an "Academic Bill of Rights" that would preclude firing professors for their political views includes the following statement:

"The University of Virginia offers a course in Marxism, which posits that the work of the godfather of Communism is the 'standard against which all subsequent social thought must be judged. … It’s worth devoting an entire semester to it.'"

I wonder where the Marxists hang out at the University these days, since the Cave in Old Cabell is no longer there. I never studied Marxism at Virginia, but I did get assigned to read "In Defense of Anarchism," about which I recall nothing but the title.

Anyhow, I thought there already was sort of an academic bill of rights adopted by most schools, promulgated by the American Association of University Professors, called the "1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure."

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