In Defense of Academic Freedom
This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic 's archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.
Why defend academic freedom even when the ideas in question are wrongheaded or harmful? 'It is precisely because any kind of purge opens the gate to all kinds of purge, that freedom of thought necessarily means the freedom to think bad thoughts as well as good.'
Those words, written in 1953 by Joseph Alsop, an alumnus of Harvard who later served on its Board of Overseers, are relevant today, as the Trump administration cancels the visas of foreign students for viewpoints that it deems 'bad.' And they were relevant in recent years as institutions of higher education investigated and disciplined members of their communities for expressing views that ran afoul of various progressive social-justice orthodoxies. But Alsop wrote them in response to the McCarthy era's efforts to identify and punish Communists who were working in academia. Hundreds of professors were summoned by the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, forced to appear as witnesses, and pressured to name names––that is, to identify fellow academics with ties to the Communist Party. Many were then censured or fired and blacklisted by their employers.
'I have been profoundly and actively anti-Communist all my life,' Alsop declared in a letter to the president and fellows of Harvard, published in The Atlantic. 'Unfortunately, however, the question that confronts us is not how we feel about Communists and ex-Communists. The question is, rather, how we feel about the three great principles which have run, like threads of gold, through the long, proud Harvard story.'
The first principle he listed was the freedom to make personal choices within the limits of the law. The second principle was 'unrestricted freedom of thought.' And the third principle was one's right to due process when accused of breaking the law. 'A member of our faculty is not to be penalized for any legal choice he may make, however eccentric or controversial,' Alsop wrote. 'He may become a nudist or a Zoroastrian, imitate Origen or adopt the Pythagorean rules of diet. If called before a Congressional investigating committee, he may seek the protection of the Fifth Amendment, and refuse to testify on grounds of possible self-incrimination. However much we disapprove, we may not interfere.'
By standing for 'unrestricted free trade in ideas,' Alsop sought to conserve the university's ability to extend the frontiers of human thought and knowledge at a moment that has long been regarded as one of the darkest in the history of American academia. But as Greg Lukianoff, the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), documented in a 2023 Atlantic article, the threat to academic freedom today arguably surpasses the threat that existed in the 1950s. 'According to the largest study at the time, about 100 professors were fired over a 10-year period during the second Red Scare for their political beliefs or communist ties,' he wrote. 'We found that, in the past nine years, the number of professors fired for their beliefs was closer to 200.' More recently, FIRE has objected to the Trump administration's infringements on academic freedom, including the unprecedented demands that it sent to Harvard last month.
Supporters of academic freedom have every reason to fear that more colleges will be similarly targeted in coming months. One defense should involve consulting similar situations from bygone eras. Doing so can help identify principles and arguments that have stood the test of time—and it can be a source of hope. After all, the authoritarian excesses of McCarthyism, which intimidated so many, did not long endure. 'From the perspective of the sixties, the whole period has an air of unreality' for many students, a 1965 Harvard Crimson article —written in an era of 'sit-ins, summer projects, and full page ads criticizing U.S. foreign policy placed in the Times by hundreds of academics'—declared. But just several years prior, it pointed out, 'tenured professors thought long and hard before risking a statement on public issues; teaching fellows, fearful of antagonizing Governing Boards, were politically inert; and students retreated into silence and inactivity.'
I hope that, circa 2030, incoming college students will have trouble understanding the mounting attacks on academic freedom that began about a decade ago. Perhaps this period, echoing the Red Scare's aftermath, may yet be followed by a new flourishing of academic freedom. A renaissance of that sort will require defending people's rights—no matter how abhorrent one may find a given opinion. As Alsop put it, 'In these cases the individuals are nothing and the principles are everything.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
42 minutes ago
- New York Post
Anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil bashes Columbia ‘hypocrisy' in first NYC rally since being released from ICE detainment
Anti-Israel protester Mahmoud Khalil on Sunday bashed his alma mater Columbia University over its 'hypocrisy' in claiming to support international students while leaving him to rot in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center for three months until his release last week. 'I must call the hypocrisy of Columbia University. A university that just two weeks ago said that they want to protect their international students,' lamented the 30-year-old, who was wearing a blue polo shirt emblazoned with 'Lift the siege on Gaza,' as he spoke on the steps of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights, just blocks from the Ivy League's campus where he helped spearhead anti-Israel encampments last year. 'While over 100 days later, I haven't received a single call from this university.' Advertisement Khalil was arrested by federal immigration authorities on March 8 and spent 104 days at a rural Louisiana detention center as the Trump administration fought to deport the Syrian-born permanent US resident. He was released from federal custody Friday after a New Jersey judge ordered his release. 'I also must call out their double standards. How did we become targets of Israel-aligned groups?' he continued. 'Because Columbia University failed to protect students. Columbia University, in fact, emboldened these individuals to continue to harass and harm students.' The cathedral steps were packed with members of Khalil's legal team, his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, 28, and his infant son, Deen, who was born while he was in ICE custody. Many supporters brought their own keffiyehs, Palestine flags and a sea of 'Welcome home' signs mixed in with anti-ICE posters. Advertisement 5 Mahmoud Khalil speaks at a homecoming rally in Morningside Heights Sunday, two days after he was released from a Louisiana ICE facility. Michael Nigro 5 Khalil was behind bars for three months. Michael Nigro Khalil said he originally sought to hold the homecoming at Columbia, but school officials refused. The Post reached out to Columbia for a comment. Advertisement 'Columbia administrators never disappoint to disappoint. So, I'm not surprised. This is very shameful, because they are the ones who know me very well. They are the ones who, in private, in fact, tell me that there is anti-Palestinian racism in Columbia, that there is manufactured hysteria about antisemitism at Columbia University because of our protests, but they don't dare to talk about that in public,' he insisted. 5 A judge deemed Khalil's detention to be unconstitutional and unjust. Michael Nigro 5 Khalil called out Columbia University for its 'hypocrisy.' Michael Nigro 5 Khalil was flanked by his wife, who gave birth to their son while he was in detention. Michael Nigro Advertisement While spirits were high at the homecoming, Khalil was quick to note that his release was not the end of their fight. 'My being here today is sweet but it is not a victory,' he said. While Khalil has been released from detention, there is still an order for his deportation from an immigration judge that his team continues to fight. The Trump administration is also trying to appeal the release order. Khalil was held at an ICE detention center in Louisiana after the Trump administration deemed that he posed a significant threat to US foreign policy relations with Israel and the Middle East. After requesting his release, a judge found that his detention was likely unconstitutional and unjust. He was freed on Friday after 104 days locked up. Khalil is a permanent resident with a green card, who is married to a US citizen and, now, a father to a son born in the US.
Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
Michigan Student Arrested By ICE While On School Trip Deported
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Maykol Bogoya Duarte, an 18-year-old former Detroit high school student who was arrested by Border Patrol agents whilst on his way to a field trip on May 20, has been deported back to his native Columbia according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records seen by the Detroit Free Press. Newsweek reached out to DHS via email on Sunday for comment. Why It Matters President Donald Trump's administration has made cracking down on illegal immigration one of its top policy priorities, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel carrying out an intensified series of raids across the United States. Beginning on June 6 several days of largescale anti-ICE demonstrations took place in Los Angeles, some of which turned violent. In response the Trump administration deployed 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines, against the wishes of California Governor Gavin Newsom. What To Know The Detroit Free Press reported that DHS records indicate Duarte was deported back to Columbia on June 19. On May 20, whilst on the way to a high school trip to Lake Erie Metropark, Duarte was pulled over by local police officers who said he was tailgating an unmarked police vehicle. Due to language barriers the police called Border Patrol agents who took Duarte into custody after checking his immigration status. Stock photograph showing federal agents patrol the halls of an immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on June 20, 2025 in New York City. Stock photograph showing federal agents patrol the halls of an immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on June 20, 2025 in New York City. Spencer Platt/GETTY At the time of his detention, Duarte was a student at Detroit's Western International High School and only three and a half credits away from graduation. Detroit House Democrats Shri Thanedar and Rashida Tlaib both asked for Duarte to be allowed to stay in the U.S. until he graduated, but this request was turned back by ICE on June 11. Records from ICE's Executive Office for Immigration Review show Duarte and his mother applied for asylum on January 29, 2024; after entering the U.S. saying they were trying to escape violence in Columbia. Duarte was refused asylum, and his appeal was rejected on June 25, 2024, at which point "he was in the country illegally, having ignored a judge's removal order and lost his appeal" according to a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection. What People Are Saying Speaking to the Detroit Free Press Duarte's attorney Ruby Robinson said: "We're concerned that for anybody who contacts the police or are interacting with police — whether somebody suspected of committing a crime or whether it's a victim coming forward — if local law enforcement is going to rely on federal officials to do interpreting, that's going to have a chilling effect on people trusting law enforcement." Western International High School teacher Kristen Schoettle said: "The police did not have to call Border Patrol, but they did." Speaking earlier this year to NPR Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said: "We know that our ICE agents across the country are following proper protocol and proper procedures, and we are working every day to make ourselves excellent for the American people." What Happens Next Trump's crackdown on suspected illegal migrants is likely to continue with more ICE raids taking place across the country. There could be further tensions with Democratic governors who object to federal government policy.
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Anti-ICE protests to cost Los Angeles taxpayers over $30M: official
Anti-ICE protests that rattled Los Angeles will cost taxpayers in the City of Angels a whopping $32 million, according to newly released data. The eye-watering sum includes the cost of police response, emergency services, cleanup and public property damage resulting from federal immigration protests that have rattled the city, LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia revealed in a post on X. Some $29.5 million of the costs come from the LAPD's response to protests, 'including citywide tactical alert costs,' Mejia said, sharing a graph breakdown of the taxpayer funds. Anti-ICE protests will cost Los Angeles taxpayers a whopping $32,042,107, according to newly released data. LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia Another $1.4 million will be used for clean-up and public property damage, according to the post. The remainder of the money includes funds set aside for the Los Angeles Fire Department, street services, general services and the Public Works Board. Downtown LA has become the epicenter of anti-ICE riots in response to Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Since June 8, the LAPD has made roughly 561 arrests related to protests, cops said, according to KTLA. Downtown Los Angeles has become the epicenter of anti-ICE riots in response to Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. Toby Canham for NY Post More than 200 people were arrested on June 10 alone after Mayor Karen Bass instituted a curfew in Los Angeles. 'The most explosive escalation of tensions between demonstrators and police since the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 is currently unfolding in Los Angeles over Trump's 'mass deportation agenda,'' said Kieran Doyle, with Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a group that tracks civil unrest and wars. The large total does not include potential lawsuits, Mejia noted.
