Letter from SAFS to Dr. Patrick Woodsworth, Director General, Dawson College

Dear Director-General Woodsworth:

I am writing to you as President of the Society for Academic Freedom. Our society is committed to the preservation of academic freedom and the merit principle in decisions about faculty and students. A description of our organization is provided on our website: www.safs.niagara.com. It is our policy to solicit clarifying information from all parties whenever we are informed of a possible abuse of academic freedom. It is in that spirit I am writing to you.

We have received some troubling information about the treatment of one of your faculty members, Professor Jeffrey Asher of the Humanities Department. We are writing to you to clarify the situation for us and to explain how decisions made regarding Professor Asher were made in the context of his academic freedom and with regard to due process. It would be very much appreciated if you could outline your institution’s policies to safeguard academic freedom of faculty and students and guarantee due process in academic decision-making.

The information we have been given states that Professor Asher’s current courses have been canceled, and that he has been assigned three new courses to teach for next year. Although we are not in a position to comment on the merits of the decision, we are deeply troubled by what appear to be violations of Professor Asher’s rights to due process and academic freedom.

First, it appears that the decision to cancel and reassign his courses, taken by the Executive and Curriculum Committee of the Humanities Department, was based on a series of concerns relayed to Professor Asher in a letter dated May 31, 2000. It is our further understanding that Professor Asher was not given any opportunity to respond to these concerns before the decision regarding his course reassignments became final. In other words, student complaints and allegations, including those from a parent of a former student of Professor Asher, were taken at face value. It is only fair that Professor Asher should be allowed to defend himself. Based on my reading of Professor Asher’s response to the Committee’s decision letter, it is important that the responses he supplied in his own defense be heard. Again, it should be noted that Professor Asher was not invited to respond to the Committee’s decision, but that he did so on his own initiative.

Second, it is possible that some members of the Curriculum Committee are biased against Professor Asher and this bias may have influenced their decision about him. One of the members of the Committee, Professor Greta Nemiroff, according to an article in the Gazette (enclosed), papered over a bulletin board filled with information that Professor Asher had placed with other material of her own, without seeking either Professor Asher’s permission or even informing him that she was doing it. When Professor Asher complained, the chair of his department, Professor Powers, who is also a member of the Curriculum Committee that decided on Professor Asher’s case, referred to his complaint as "It means next to nothing."

Because Professor Asher takes a different view than others on issues relevant to men’s lives, the subject of the material Professor Asher put on the bulletin board and of a course he teaches, it is of concern to us that he may have been punished not for his teaching but for his views on men and women. If so, that would constitute a serious breach of his academic freedom.

Whenever feasible, but particularly where the facts themselves are unclear, it is our practice to contact the parties directly involved before commenting publicly on the academic freedom aspects of a case of this nature. Would you kindly review the teaching decision regarding Professor Asher’s courses and inform us whether, in the opinion of Dawson College, Professor Asher’s treatment has been consistent with College policies concerning academic freedom and due process.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,
Clive Seligman President

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