AAU's Statement Upholds Colleges

Two of the most temperate and definitive statements on academic freedom have come from organizations of major educators and colleges, the American Association of University Professors and the American Association of Universities.

Some 40 college heads joined in a statement issued March 24, which asserted that "freedom of thought and speech is vital to the maintenance of the American system..."but which carefully noted that "'academic freedom' is not a shield for those who break the law."

"Unless a faculty member violates a law, however", the report continued, "his discipline or discharge is a university responsibility and should not be assumed by political authority."

The statement, by examining the role of the University in American life, the nature of a university, and its obligations endeavored to give both perspective and impact to its provisions. An analysis of "The Present Danger" made the important point, later emphasized by the Harvard Corporation, that "No person who accepts or advocates...(Russian Communist) principles and methods has any place in a university."

AAUP Policy

Said the AAUP statement, appearing in April: "The tests of the fitness of a college teacher should be his integrity and his professional competence."

The AAUP suggested that "the function of the legislative branch of the Government is the enactment of legislation, and not the prosecution of individuals."

"Only by encouraging freedom of thought, of enquiry and of expression can this nation in the long run...achieve wise decisions concerning national and international policies."

A stand taken by the Princeton chapter was reaffirmed in the AAUP statement; it dealt with political investigations of universities, and suggested that teachers could be best judged by their fellows, not by "political tests, standards of conformity, and inquisitorial procedures."