MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
May 17, 1962
The complete policy statement as developed in 1960 is as
follows:
To be true to itself, a university must encourage rigorous
examination of all points of view on matters of proper educational
concern, regardless of their popularity or unpopularity. The
tenets of academic freedom require that these points of view
be advanced only from a posture of professional competence,
complete candor, and absence of concealed bias.
A university is obligated to defend academic freedom. It
is obligated equally to insure that advantage is not taken
of that freedom for purposes of propaganda.
These obligations of a university are shared by its faculty,
trustees, administrators, students, alumni, and the general
public. All are responsible for safeguarding academic freedom
against both those who would curtail it, and those who would
abuse it as a license to mislead and confuse the unwary.
This responsibility extends to those invited to visit the
campus. A prospective speaker should not be disqualified solely
by reason of his political adherence. Neither should he be
allowed to use his rights in his field of professional specialization
to advance his personal political views.
This philosophy has special validity in the case of communism,
which is not a political party in the sense we know as political
parties but which is recognized as an international political
conspiracy aiming at world domination through the subversion
and overthrow by violence of existing governments, especially
our own. Students need to be taught and to learn about communism;
but they should get their facts from faculty members who are
competent in the field, and who respect the obligation to
tell the full truth. The university never has and never will
knowingly invite a communist to preach his treason on our
campus, for we see no point in providing a platform for an
exponent of communism who is not bound by any obligation to
tell the truth.
Under the law, final authority to decide who may use the
University's facilities rests with the members of the Board
of Trustees as the continuing custodians of the University's
welfare and prestige; but faculty members, administrators,
and students are equally responsible for the defense of the
University's best interests. (p.109)