Academic Freedom in the Colleges

Abstract

The Education Editor of the New York Times, Benjamin Fine, recently published (May 29 and 30) the results of a broad survey of the status of academic freedom in the United States. The facts reported are sufficiently depressing and alarming. "A record number of academic freedom cases involving college faculty members who charge they were dismissed or denied promotion because of their political activities has arisen during the last year," according to Fine. The American Association of University Professors is "swamped" with complaints. The secretary of the AAUP, Dr. Ralph E. Himstead, is quoted as saying that "the principle of academic freedom is under greater fire than at any time in our thirty-five-year history."

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