Humbug in Academic Freedom

I don’t say that the anguish that college professors express over the uncertain fate of academic freedom is compounded of nothing but humbug. I say simply that this anguish contains a rich element of humbug . . . enough to make their defense of that freedom ring from time to time with an embarrassingly false note. . . . faculties that are almost entirely self- governing, as many of them are, often generate within themselves such coercive pressures towards conformity that the range of opinion that is effectively expressed among them is decidedly narrow. It is when members of such faculties, often monuments of their local orthodoxy, rise in defense of academic freedom that the note of humbug is apt to become unmistakable and compromise the whole struggle for freedom . . . let me elaborate upon those head-shrinking pressures that professors bring to bear upon one another.

The atmosphere of tranquility that rises from a sun-striped campus rarely matches the quality of life that is lived on it. Like the surface of the sea on a fair day, those noble trees, those placid buildings, the green grass and the ivy are a lovely facade behind which life is deeply competitive. . . . Of the three measures of success for a professor the most important is the good opinion of his colleagues. The rank he achieves will usually depend chiefly upon this, and to a considerable extent even his opportunities to publish. Now for the all-important question: What provokes this good opinion? Well, too often the only magic necessary is an amiable disposition and, most crucial of all, a willingness to espouse the current prejudices of the club, whether these be social, political, or merely professional.

MC

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Morton Cronin

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I don’t say that the anguish that college professors express over the uncertain fate of academic freedom is compounded of nothing but humbug. I say simply that this anguish contains a rich element of humbug . . . enough to make their defense of that freedom ring from time to time with an embarrassingly false note. . . . faculties that are almost entirely self- governing, as many of them are, often generate within themselves such coercive pressures towards conformity that the range of opinion that is effectively expressed among them is decidedly narrow. It is when members of such faculties, often monuments of their local orthodoxy, rise in defense of academic freedom that the note of humbug is apt to become unmistakable and compromise the whole struggle for freedom . . . let me elaborate upon those head-shrinking pressures that professors bring to bear upon one another.

The atmosphere of tranquility that rises from a sun-striped campus rarely matches the quality of life that is lived on it. Like the surface of the sea on a fair day, those noble trees, those placid buildings, the green grass and the ivy are a lovely facade behind which life is deeply competitive. . . . Of the three measures of success for a professor the most important is the good opinion of his colleagues. The rank he achieves will usually depend chiefly upon this, and to a considerable extent even his opportunities to publish. Now for the all-important question: What provokes this good opinion? Well, too often the only magic necessary is an amiable disposition and, most crucial of all, a willingness to espouse the current prejudices of the club, whether these be social, political, or merely professional.