Fwd: Academic Freedom ad

>PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY
>
>The following statement in defense of academic freedom is being circulated
by 
>concerned faculty members. If you would like to endorse the statement,
please 
>send your name, academic position and affiliation, and contact information
to 
><A
HREF="mailto:academicfreedomnow0";>academicfreedomnow0<
/A>. Non-academic endorsers are also welcome.
>
>We hope to publish the statement as a full page ad in the New York Times and 
>possibly other media outlets with the names of hundreds or thousands of 
>endorsers. The cost will be many thousands of dollars. If you would like to 
>make a contribution towards the cost of publishing the statement, please
send 
>a check to:
>
>Center for Economic Research and Social Change
>P.O. Box 258082
>Chicago, IL 60625
>
>Mark your check "Academic Freedom Ad".
>
>Please contact the email address above if you have any questions or
>comments.
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>To fellow teachers and staff members:
>
>In the crisis precipitated by the terrible events of September 11, members
>of academic communities across the U.S. have participated in teach-ins,
>colloquia, demonstrations, and other events aimed at developing an informed 
>critical understanding of what happened and why.  Now that the U.S. is
waging 
>war in Afghanistan, such activities are continuing.
>
>Unfortunately, some participants in these events have been threatened and 
>attacked for speaking out. Trustees of the City University of New York are 
>planning formal denunciations of faculty members who criticized U.S. foreign 
>policy at a teach-in during the first week in October. There have been 
>similar efforts to silence criticism and dissent  at the University of Texas 
>at Austin, MIT, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the
>University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and elsewhere. AAUP director of
>public policy Ruth Flower told the Boston Globe on October 6, "We're
>watching these developments with a lot of concern."
>
>Attacks on faculty who have questioned or dissented from the Bush
>administration's current war policy have coincided with other ominous
>developments. Colleges and universities are being pressured by agencies of 
>the federal government to hand over confidential information from student 
>files. And there are moves in Congress to limit visas for students from 
>abroad.
>
>We call on all members of the academic community to speak out strongly in 
>defense of academic freedom and civil liberties, not just as an abstract
>principle but as a practical necessity. At a moment such as this we must
>make sure that all informed voices-especially those that are critical and
>dissenting-are heard.
>
>Anatole Anton
>Professor of Philosophy, San Francisco State University
>
>Dana Cloud
>Associate Professor of Communication, University of Texas at Austin
>
>Donna Flayhan
>Assistant Professor of Communication & Media Studies, Goucher College
>
>Phil Gasper
>Associate Professor of Philosophy, Notre Dame de Namur University
>
>Richard Gibson
>Associate Professor of Social Studies, San Diego State University
>
>William Keach
>Professor of English, Brown University
>
>Tom Lewis
>Professor of Spanish, University of Iowa
>
>Edward Said
>University Professor, Columbia University
>-- 
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