ACTA's Must-Reads
« Summers postmortem continues | Main | SCOTUS deals a blow to student press »
South Dakota rejects intellectual diversity bill
Yesterday, the South Dakota senate voted down a bill that would have required state universities to publish annual reports documenting their commitment to intellectual diversity. Opponents of the bill argued that it would have damaged the national reputation of South Dakota's schools, signalling a "closed system of thought" that would repel prospective students and faculty. The notion that the bill, which was designed to protect academic freedom, was in fact hostile to it, seems to have taken root in South Dakota, where opposition to the bill hinges on the interlocking convictions that it would have crippled the free exchange of ideas on campus, and that this is the hidden goal of a bill that is the brainchild of an "out-of-state group that seeks to promote conservative ideas on college campuses." That last phrase is the brainchild of the Associated Press, which appears in this moment to be more interested in reporting the mischaracterizations of the bill's opponents than in properly characterizing the bill itself. ACTA would be the "out-of-state group" referred to in the piece--but it is a mistake to argue that the bill ACTA helped conceptualize is intended to limit academic freedom while advancing conservative views. The bill is a non-partisan one, designed to protect the viewpoints of everyone on campus--liberals and conservatives alike. It arises from ACTA's December report on intellectual diversity, which in turn arises from ACTA's careful study of how campuses across the country are failing to fulfill their fundamental obligation to encourage the robust exchange of ideas and to prevent viewpoint discrimination. Read the report here.
Posted by acta online at February 24, 2006 07:31 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.goactablog.org/blog/mt-tb.cgi/116
Comments
Defeat of this requirement is entirely appropriate. There are already far too many unnecessary documentation requirements for institutions of all types, both public and private. Academic institutions already spend enough time feeding the beauracratic monster. We should encourage, not discourage, their fiscal responsibility.
Posted by: Marc Berman at February 28, 2006 09:22 AM