April 2011
February 10, 2011
Dr. J.
Colin Dodds, President
Saint
Mary’s University
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Dear Dr.
Dodds:
Re: Freedom of Student
Expression
I am writing to you as president
of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship. We are a national
organization of university faculty members and interested others who are
dedicated to the defense of academic freedom and reasoned debate.For further
information, please visit our website at www.safs.ca.
As you know, on November 30, 2010, Matt Anderson, the president of the Saint
Mary’s University Students’ Association, ordered members of a student society to
remove a sign from their display. In doing so, Mr. Anderson interfered with the
peaceful and orderly expression of opinion on your campus.
Universities are institutions
dedicated to the advancement of knowledge. Experience teaches us that the
discovery and transmission of knowledge are best pursued through unfettered
debate. At a university, advocates of opposing positions must be allowed to say
what they want and be encouraged to challenge each other in vigorous and
reasoned debate. By his action, Mr. Anderson has contributed to a climate of
intolerance toward expression. Such intolerance is incompatible with Saint
Mary’s dedication to the discovery and transmission of truth.
We have written to Mr. Anderson
about this issue.
We write to you to urge you to state publicly that Saint Mary’s University does
not approve of Mr. Anderson’s actions and to assure the Saint Mary’s University
community that the administration is doing what it can to see that in the future
students and others may say what they want at Saint Mary’s without interference.
By remaining silent, many will interpret you as signaling to the Saint Mary’s
community that you approve of Mr. Anderson’s action. This cannot but have a
chilling effect on expression and communication on campus. If the harm Mr.
Anderson’s action has done to the integrity and mission of Saint Mary’s
University is to be undone, the administration at Saint Mary’s must speak up and
begin to lead.
We look forward to your
response, and we will post it on our website along with this letter to you.
Sincerely,
Clive Seligman, President
CC:
David Gauthier, VP Academic.
Help us maintain freedom in teaching, research and scholarship by joining SAFS or making a donation.
