Following a year that witnessed protests on college campuses across the nation over controversial political speakers and campus-climate issues, the University of Iowa has begun reviewing its operations manual to be prepared in the case of similar events.
In a presentation before the UI Faculty Council meeting in the University Capitol Center on Tuesday, Professor Steve McGuire, the head of the Committee on Academic Values, offered examples from other universities that the UI is drawing from to include in its revised operations manual.
McGuire first brought up the protests and rallies at the University of California-Berkeley from earlier this year. He praised Cal-Berkeley administration officials for devising a thorough principles and values statement to dictate their response to any future events on campus.
McGuire said the UI is working on a similar statement, and the Committee for Academic Values plans to release a rough draft of the statement by Sept. 6, which it will then submit to the UI Faculty Senate for approval.
McGuire also referenced the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a sign for the “need for coordinated, thoughtful action.” The committee has worked with the UI administration, UI police, Iowa City police, and other organizations to craft a plan for any such disturbance.
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This year for new-student Orientation, the UI planned to include slides outlining points about academic freedom and freedom of speech, but Orientation officials felt the slides weren’t prepared enough to present to students. They will be included next year, however, McGuire said.
McGuire said he believes there are some gray areas in undergraduates’ understanding of the issues.
“Many students on campus do not understand academic freedom or freedom of speech,” he said. “Some students even resent free speech.”
Patrick Wronkiewicz, the president of UI College Republicans, called the comments “off-base” and “wrong,” and something that shouldn’t be said by an UI official.
“He’s not engaged with the students if that’s his current mindset,” Wronkiewicz said.
He also called the plans to introduce academic freedom and freedom-of-speech slides into Orientation as “setting limits on a student’s thoughts from Day 1.”
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Riley Lewers, the president of the University Democrats, called the UI’s plans for slides about academic freedom and freedom of speech a “good idea,” but she was “hesitant to endorse faculty teaching of what is and is not free speech” and did “not [want] to box students into a particular understanding of speech rights.” She also called McGuire’s quote on student understanding of freedom of speech as a “fair statement, due to the sheer number of undergrads” on campus.
Some UI professors not only raised concerned about students but also about the general public. UI Clinical Professor of pediatrics Resmiye Oral said, “We’re not just seeing students versus faculty, students versus students, but patients versus service providers.”
Teresa Marshall, a UI professor of dentistry, noted that some patients at the College of Dentistry will refuse dentists based on their sex and ethnicity. The dental school has a policy that patients must see their scheduled dentist or leave the premise.
Regardless, McGuire remained confident in the work of the Committee on Academic Values to educate students and the community about academic freedom and freedom of speech, both through the revised UI operations manual, and principles and values statement being released next week.