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Conference Report

CAUT Academic Freedom Conference Post 9/11

Marriot Toronto Bloor Yorkville Hotel
October 28-30, 2005

by Hassan Qudrat-Ullah

12 Dec 05 – What a lifetime opportunity to (i) meet, hear, and cheer the ‘academic freedom fighters’, and (ii) appreciate the fact that ‘academic freedom is hard earned currency and requires systematic and courageous efforts for its sustainable future’. Overall, all the presentations distilled a variety of thoughts and ideas surrounding ‘academic freedom’. However, the plenary session where Chandler Davis and Lee Lorch were the speakers was both the beginning and the end of the whole conference in itself. How academic freedom is earned and protected is exemplified by the heroic acts of these two gentlemen. Chandler Davis, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Toronto, after refusing to testify before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee without invoking the 5th Amendment, was dismissed from the University of Michigan, convicted for contempt of Congress and jailed. He came to U of T in 1962. Lee Lorch, Professor of Mathematics, York University, moved to Canada (University of Alberta) in 1959 as a result of political persecution during the Cold War. 

Another prominent feature of the conference was the break-out sessions. I was in Group # 6, with another colleague, Deborah Brock, from York. Various issues pertaining to “how to defend the academic freedom” were discussed. In the context of York University, it was highlighted that “academic caucus in the Senate” be established. Overall ideas and conclusions regarding the academic freedom in this conference can be summarized as things to-do:

  • Education and awareness of academic freedom across the campuses
  • Effective links between university associations and CAUT
  • Clear regulation regarding police access to campuses
  • Avoidance of politicization of scientific knowledge and inquiry
  • Work on the challenges faced by international students (visas, etc.) post September 11.
  • Mechanism to protect growing number of non-tenured staff
  • More such conferences

In these highly uncertain times with seen and unseen pressures, academic freedom deserves our serious attention both at individual and institutional levels, I believe.

Other Reports from this Conference:
John Blazina's Report
Ben Lowinsky's Report