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State of the Profession: Academic Freedom NOW
By Martin D. Snyder
Usually it is not a matter of controversy when a distinguished alumna returns to her alma mater to address former mentors and current students. Such, however, was not the case when Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization of Women (NOW) and a 1978 law school graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, made a presentation there last March. Gandy’s and NOW’s prochoice stance garnered the strenuous objections of Roman Catholic archbishop Alfred Hughes, as well as the New Orleans chapter of Priests for Life; real-estate developer Joe Canizaro, who had pledged $1 million to the university; and Louisiana congressman John Cooksey. Cooksey is seeking to unseat U.S. senator Mary Landrieu, who was supported by NOW in her first campaign.
Gandy’s lecture, funded by the law school, the university’s Women’s Resource Center, and the Association of Women Law Students, took place as scheduled. The law school presented Gandy with a public service award. Some fifty protesters, some holding placards accusing the university of promoting abortions, assembled outside. None of the protesters identified themselves as students of the university. There was no disruption of Gandy’s remarks, which dealt with civil rights, environmental and disability laws, age discrimination, judicial nominations, and the number of conservative judges on federal appeals courts. She touched only briefly on the topic of abortion.
Gandy, who has spoken on many college and university campuses, expressed surprise that her reception at her alma mater was marred by controversy. She noted, however, that Loyola University showed “true courage” in permitting her to speak. One might add as well that it revealed a true understanding of academic freedom. Kudos to Loyola University and its law school!
It is tempting to record this small victory for academic freedom and to move on. It is only fair, however, to consider the arguments of those who raised objections to Gandy’s appearance at the university. Archbishop Hughes is reported to have been upset because Gandy was bringing a “proabortion” agenda to a Catholic campus. By what archiepiscopal clairvoyance Hughes was able to predict what Gandy was going to say is hard to surmise, but he seems to have been content to condemn her remarks before she made them. Priests for Life accused the university of “fostering a culture of death.” They seem not to have understood the principle that a university, by inviting a speaker to campus, does not endorse what the speaker may say or may have said in the past.
William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, put a slightly different spin on the anti-Gandy rhetoric. “Nazi deniers,” he said, “are not welcome to speak at Yeshiva University, racists are not welcome to speak at Howard University, and abortion rights activists are not welcome to speak at Catholic universities.” By what authority Donohue speaks on behalf of Yeshiva and Howard I cannot say, but to justify the restriction of academic freedom in one place by appealing to hypothetical bad practice at another fails to convince. Furthermore, apparently Gandy was welcome at Loyola University. The university invited her, and it is for the university, not the Catholic League, to decide who speaks on its campus.
Gandy understood, of course, the real objection to her appearance. “I think it’s sad,” she said, “that because of my stance on one issue, I’m being labeled an inherently bad person who’s unfit to do good on other matters concerning women and children.” The sort of ad- hominem attacks leveled by Gandy’s critics are very handy. They appeal to the emotions rather than the intellect. Demonizing the people with whom you disagree removes the unpleasant necessity of countering their arguments with better ones of your own. Throw in a hot-button issue like reproductive freedom, gay rights, or affirmative action, and you have a ready-made (and utterly mindless) crowd pleaser. Bigots and de-magogues have learned this lesson well.
Fortunately for our society, universities teach a different lesson. By providing a public forum for the free exchange of ideas, they challenge us to rise above the mere reputations and personalities of speakers, to engage their words with our minds, and to judge their arguments according to their intellectual merits. But fundamentally, real universities, those where academic freedom is truly respected, give us the opportunity to listen, and by listening, to learn. Did any of those who so strenuously opposed Gandy’s appearance at Loyola University actually listen to what she had to say? Did they learn anything?
Martin Snyder is AAUP director of planning and development.
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