AAUP-CO POSITION PAPER: HJR 04-1003
POSITION PAPER OF
The Colorado State Conference
of the
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
BALLOT TITLE:
HJR 04-1003 House Joint Resolution 04-1003 Concerning First Amendment Protections of the Campuses of Colorado Publicly Funded Colleges and Universities
OUR POSITION:
The Colorado State Conference of the AAUP (CCAAUP) respectfully recommends that the Colorado State Assembly oppose HJR 04-1003.
REASONING:
Clearly HJR 04-1003 is a well-intentioned resolution having at its heart the goal of reaffirming the integrity of higher education in Colorado. In fact, the CCAAUP finds much of HJR 04-1003 to be commendable.
Specifically, the CCAAUP agrees with HJR 04-1003 that Colorado higher education serves a vital role for Colorado citizens; that the University of Colorado is a national leader in education and research and is worthy of the highest esteem; that Colorado’s publicly funded colleges and universities exude academic excellence serving the nation and the world; that First Amendment protections apply to all, faculty, staff and students alike; that it is unconscionable that students, teachers, and researchers would be rewarded or punished solely on the basis of personal viewpoints; that harassment must not be tolerated; that college and university services must not be withheld solely because of the personal viewpoints that individuals may hold, advocate, express, or demonstrate; and that Colorado’s colleges and universities are indeed subject to the provisions of applicable state and federal law.
Additionally, these values are already carefully articulated, exercised, and protected by college and university policy and procedure in accordance with CCHE policy and procedure and subject to verification and oversight by state sanctioned administrative boards of directors/regents. College and university leadership, administrative staff, and faculty are ever vigilant to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal law with regard to allocating state resources. Further, Colorado colleges and universities have effective and elaborate systems of checks and balances in place to ensure that all individuals and groups are treated fairly, enjoying due process, and sharing equally the privileges and protections promised them by policy and law.
Perhaps it is because of our strong agreement with much of what is presented in HJR 04-1003 that ultimately, the CCAAUP takes issue with the resolution proposed. The CCAAUP finds itself in agreement with the AAUP’s statement regarding legislation which is commonly understood to be modeled on the Academic Bill of Rights originally drafted by columnist David Horowitz, see http://studentsforacdemicfreedom.org. According to the AAUP’s Committee A, "Not only is the Academic Bill of Rights redundant, but, ironically, it also infringes academic freedom in the very act of purporting to protect it" http://www.aaup.org/statements/SpchState/billofrights.htm. Therefore, while the CCAAUP appreciates the value of continually reaffirming prudent academic values including constant vigilance in protecting First Amendment Rights for all citizens, we find HJR 04-1003 to be flawed precisely because it is unnecessary.
No individual or group should be awarded privileges or subjected to punishments because of personal opinions or beliefs, and freedom of speech is the hallmark of academic freedom in Colorado colleges and universities. Academic freedom is the primary and most fundamental guarantee that First Amendment rights are alive and well in Colorado’s academy. Prudent and long established academic practices and values result from open discourse and debate among our colleges and universities’ experts: the faculty and administrators who have built our academic system through their expertise and experience.
Historically the Colorado State Assembly has demonstrated the vision needed to enable higher education in Colorado to seek the excellence that it has achieved, the vision to encourage the free exchange of ideas under which true scholarship and the pursuit of knowledge and truth can succeed. In the past, higher education in Colorado has not needed a Joint Resolution Concerning First Amendment Protections of the Campuses of Colorado Publicly Funded Colleges and Universities. Colorado does not need one now.
