Academic freedom is a hallmark of higher education.

Academic Freedom, Religious 

Institutions, and the State

by Daniel Kuebler

Government funding of education should not be tied to the beliefs of unaccountable academics. Public support for education should empower students and parents, and the choices they make.

Academic freedom is a hallmark of higher education. Everything from tenure to the American Association of University Professors to the higher education accrediting system is ostensibly designed to protect this right. One of the surest ways to run afoul of the accrediting bodies that wield significant and largely unchecked power is for a university to summarily fire a professor deemed politically suspect. The ongoing controversy surrounding the University of Illinois, which revoked a contract offer to Steven Salaita because of incendiary tweets he made about Israel, is a case in point. In support of Dr. Salaita, thousands of academics have promised to boycott speaking engagements and other academic collaborations with the university.

Given an environment in which academic freedom is valued above all, it should come as little surprise that some academics have taken issue with the supposedly illiberal practice of professors taking an oath of faith at some religious universities. While these authors claim to recognize that such universities and their professors have the right to do as they see fit, they question the logic of accrediting such religious institutions that, in their opinion, squelch academic freedom.

This is a bit disingenuous of these authors, because denying accreditation to a university has such severe financial consequences that it can be tantamount to shutting it down. Pell grants and Stafford loans, key federal funds that subsidize nearly all of higher education, can only be used by students who attend accredited institutions. If these funds are denied to its students, a school is likely to find itself in dire financial straits.

Unfortunately, the use of accreditation status as a political threat against religiously-based institutions is not merely a theoretical possibility; it is already happening. Gordon College, a Christian school located near Boston, was placed under review by its regional accrediting agency when its president signed a letter supporting a religious exemption to the Obama administration's executive order banning discrimination in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

While the issue in the case of Gordon College deals with its code of conduct, at its root it is an academic freedom issue. Should faith-based colleges have the freedom to establish an educational environment that is consistent with the tenets of their faith?

• Faith, Reason, and Academic Freedom ...
• Public Policy Principles ...

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