‘Revolution’ Needed To Stop The Free Speech Crisis At Universities
It will take a revolution to recover academic freedom from the group-thinking bureaucrats who exert control over corporate universities, says a physics professor sacked after going public with climate science criticism.
Peter Ridd, whose academic freedom was upheld by a court in April, said the higher education sector’s claim of “no crisis” was disproved by its resistance to the French review of campus free speech.
“(Nothing will change) unless we have, essentially, a revolution with the universities,” he says in an Institute of Public Affairs podcast out tomorrow.
He backed Education Minister Dan Tehan’s campaign for a model-free speech code suggested by former High Court chief justice Robert French.
In April, peak lobby Universities Australia gave the French report a cool reception — warning against imposition of rules “aimed at solving a problem that has not been demonstrated to exist” — but since the May 18 election several institutions have trumpeted new pro-freedom statements.
James Cook University dismissed Professor Ridd last year, saying it had nothing to do with his criticism of climate science methods but was for “denigrating the university” and talking about the disciplinary investigation against him.
JCU found Professor Ridd in breach of a “no satire” order after he emailed a student a newspaper article on the investigation, with the comment “for your amusement”.
Professor Ridd said the bureaucrats believed “they are on the side of the angels”.
Matthew McGowan, of the National Tertiary Education Union, said universities in bargaining had tried to move protection of academic freedom out of enterprise agreements.
Professor Ridd, who won his court case because of the enterprise agreement, said the root problem was that over the past 20 years “the administrators have taken all the power (from) the professoriate”.
Higher education was once run in a collegial way by academics but universities had enrolled many more students, raised more of their own revenue and created bureaucratic fiefdoms.
“Almost from top to bottom (universities are) full of the same type of people and we’ve got to get more genuine diversity of views in the universities,” Professor Ridd said.
He felt for academics with mortgages and worried about the next redundancy round, but said most “don’t really care about academic freedom, (most) are doing stuff that’s uncontroversial, or if it is controversial, they are on the politically correct side”.
Read more at The Australian
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William Walter Kay
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Interesting article. We have a similar saga going on Canada with Denis Rancourt, an outspoken climate sceptic, who was driven from the University of Ottawa. Over the years I’ve encountered countless tales of employment bias in academia. Professional bureaucrats conceal their true motive.
I disagree with the above recommendations, though. The solution is massive cutbacks in university funding. Money should go to technical schools that teach young adults practical skills and trades. Universities have always been venues of sinister indoctrination.
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tom0mason
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“Money should go to technical schools that teach young adults practical skills and trades. ”
I firmly agree, and something I’ve been advocating for decades.
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Matt Holl
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What is the difference between an academic and an intellectual?
Academics close ranks when challenged.
Intellectuals live for the challenge.
(thank goodness for the academic exceptions)
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