University Affairs

Freedom of speech on campus – really?

A current article in University Affairs asks the question, “Is freedom of speech disappearing on campus?” While the article focuses on the issue as it pertains to students, the question is no less relevant to non-tenured faculty or anyone wishing to be tenured faculty in the future.

During the long hours I spent on the picket line during the York strike this winter, the conversation occasionally drifted towards wondering why some of our peers were not picketing.  Some, it seemed, simply didn’t agree with issues on the table and did not wish to participate. Yet others, while sympathetic, were up for tenure, or hoping to land a contract position, and didn’t want to risk doing anything that might be frowned upon by the administration.

I was shocked. After all, there were many faculty members, including my program dean, who joined us on the picket lines – but then these were the one with tenure. Maybe my timid peers weren’t so paranoid after all. In a highly competitive field where many people vying for the same tenure track positions have outstanding qualifications and references, how difficult would it be for an administrator to pass over the file of someone seen to “lack loyalty” to the university?

It opens up a can of worms, doesn’t it? On the one hand, the university is supposed to be one of the last institutions in our society where freedom of thought and speech is not just tolerated, but fostered. On the other hand, for contingent workers in the university, expressing these freedoms may well have unpleasant side effects.

Last week I sat in on a day-long meeting of contract faculty members representing five universities. A common issue on all five campuses was the difficulty filling union steward positions. Apparently no person hoping to one day land a tenure track job wants to be stigmatized that way. Even filing a grievance can be seen as showing a lack of loyalty to the home institution, which has led to the development of union or policy grievance processes which leave the person launching the grievance anonymous.

Reps from several universities noted that in the flurry of program closures necessitated by cutbacks, a disproportionate number of programs largely taught by active and vocal union members were axed, effectively ridding administrations of many faculty that would be likely to organize against unfair contracts.

In a context where freedom of speech, social justice and the ability to have a voice are held up as intrinsic values, why are so many people, afraid to be heard? It’s not exactly an incentive to stand up against unfair employment practices is it?

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