Roger White says he thinks Loyola may harbor the means for civil discourse.
Last Thursday, White, associate professor of political science in City College, and an ad hoc committee, which represented various student organizations such as the College Republicans, the College Democrats, Amnesty International, the Loyola Community Action Progam and the Loyola Forensic Society, met to discuss strategies to charter an organization called “Loyola Society for Civil Engagement.”
Attendees agreed to explore a charter committee, to approach the Student Government Association for debate funds and brainstorm on future topics.
“I will only be a facilitator, not the czar of civil discourse on campus. That is not my ambition,” White said. “I think that the prime ambition of academic discourse is to encourage students to actually think for themselves.”
Some faculty members say they view their burden of responsibility in the classroom as a potential catalyst to student socio/political thought, via a platform of academic freedom.
According to Kenneth Keulman, professor of religious studies, if a Catholic university does not have authentic academic freedom, then it cannot truly consider itself a university.
“If it is going to do something to prohibit the research or the teaching of faculty, then it simply cannot be credible,” Keulman said.
The American Association of University Professors is a watchdog group that makes sure universities follow certain basic protocols in terms of academic freedoms and any number of other issues.
According to Conrad Raabe, professor of political science, the association is analogous to an intellectual trade union.
James Watson, philosophy professor, says he thinks everyone believes in academic freedom until something irks them.
“That’s when you begin to realize that’s the important discourse, because that’s when something is going on,” he said. “There have been subtle changes that Loyola should be more Catholic. It’s that faculty should be more obviously affiliated with the Catholic faith and adherents to doctrine.
“I think that’s a mistake. It’s one thing to have good Catholic professors gravitating toward Loyola. It’s another thing to seek them out.”
Keulman echoed Watson’s comments.
“A Catholic university is not a catechuic institute, and it is not a seminary. There is a different kind of teaching that goes on there. Even those institutions, I think, should still be marked by academic freedom but by and large, they serve a different purpose,” Keulman said.
Bill Barnett, economics professor, sees academic freedom as the liberty to speak only on issues relative to his discipline.
“Academic freedom certainly doesn’t allow me to go to my classroom and start expounding on the laws of physics. I’m not a physicist,” Barnett said. ” An awful lot of disciplines are such that it is legitimate to bring in an issue such as justice. But what you have to do there, you have to distinguish between what is fact and what is your opinion. To me that is terribly important.
“This place is owned by the Jesuits, it’s their university. I know about the university being the faculty and all that, but like it or not the Jesuits own it. As such, they have the right to determine that they want certain people to not oppose their ends.”
Watson says he thinks one
has to be inexperienced to believe free speech doesn’t cost anything. He said he has never experienced any institutional censorship or even intimidation.
According to Sherry Alexander, associate professor of communications, the administration does not have the same restrictions as a state university when it comes to freedom of speech and other first amendment protections, because Loyola is a private religious institution.
“Similarly, students at Loyola are subject to more restrictions on expression than they would be at UNO or at LSU or at any other state university,” she said.
In the context of student/faculty relationship, Watson says he believes strongly in advocating his position in the classroom, to focus his students on extracting and formulating their own positions.
“I think you have to show people that in matters that really count, it will be heated and people will have passion and commitments,” he said. “That’s not wrong. It means that when you step in there, you are stepping into the fire. I think we ought to prepare students for that.”
Raabe says he thinks that this didactic interaction is the essence of education.
“We’re teaching you how to think,” he said. “Colleges push you to think. I hope that pushing leads to activism.”
Keulman says he sees his duty as a teacher, not as a critic. According to him, his religious denomination and the Jesuit identity of the university should not impede students’ opinions or convictions.
“It’s my role to judge how well you can evaluate issues. You think critically about them, come to your own decisions,” he said. “Basically, you have to find your own conscience.”
