Tenure is supposed to protect college faculty from termination if their speech or writing disturbs school officials. That protection is getting weaker and weaker. For example, Marquette is trying to get rid of tenured political-science professor John McAdams because of a blog post that criticized an instructor’s handling of a controversy with a student.
Now there is a proposal being pushed by officials in the University of Arkansas system to make tenure there about as secure as walking a tightrope.
In this Martin Center article, law professors Joshua Silverstein and Robert Steinbuch explain that academic freedom is facing an “existential threat” in their university system. How so?
Under this proposal, a lack of “collegiality” alone could be grounds for dismissal. That renders tenure almost meaningless. If a professor were to say something critical of the latest SJW fad or write that the administration’s new diversity initiative is a waste of money, he could be called “uncollegial” and that would suffice to terminate him.
Furthermore, faculty members could also be terminated for failing to “cooperate” with the administration. The authors write, “The upshot of this change is striking: if a faculty member resists a single negative review, appeals that decision internally, or objects to colleagues or administrators about that review, he can be fired for lack of ‘cooperation.’”
Who would need to worry if the University of Arkansas adopts this proposal? Silverstein and Steinbuch explain:
The impact of the changes will be felt most keenly by minorities — racial minorities, religious minorities, and political minorities. That is what happens when individual rights are limited as in the proposal, whether in higher education or other institutional settings. Thus, one of our greatest fears is that the proposal will put conservative faculty in the cross-hairs because they are a distinct minority on campus.
If this proposal is adopted, it will do a lot of damage to higher education in Arkansas, and if such an undermining of tenure can be adopted there, I fear it will spread to other states. Thanks to Steinbuch and Silverstein for raising the alarm.