SUBJECT: ACADEMIC FREEDOM
SUBMITTED BY: CAL-PAC MFSA, John Cobb, Jr., Janet McKeithen, Kathy Cooper-Ledesma, Louis Chase, Norma Kehrberg, Frank Wulf, Sandie Richards, Betty Kobata, Patricia Farris, Marjorie Schuessler, Mary Larson, Tom Ziegert, JoAnn Yoon Fukumoto, Lisa Gay, Santiago, Ed Hanson, Krista McVey, Paige Eaves, Susan Stouffer, Ignacio Castuera, Jeanne Roe Smith, Lee McClendon, Jim Brooking. Rich Bolin, Bill Kummer, Jennifer Gutierrez, Tom Reinhart-Marean
ESTIMATED FISCAL IMPACT: None
SOURCE OF STAFF TIME: Conference Secretaries
WHEREAS, at a time when some within the church are calling for the University Senate to pressure schools, colleges, universities and seminaries to hire only those persons who affirm particular creedal expressions of Christianity, it is essential that the Discipline give clear guidance to the Senate, and
WHEREAS, it is not appropriate for the church to prescribe narrow litmus tests for affiliated institutions to apply in carrying out their mission, but, rather, the church should be lifting up broad principles consistent with United Methodism’s historic commitment to inclusiveness, open-mindedness, and diversity, and
WHEREAS, we particularly believe it is vital in training future clergy that they be exposed to the lives and faithful witness of faculty who are at the margins of the tradition as well as the center, teaching an expansive, multi-cultural understanding of Christian witness rather than an exclusive and excluding one;
THEREFOR BE IT RESOLVED that the Cal-Pac Annual Conference support the establishment of academic freedom throughout the denomination by submitting the following petition to the 2012 United Methodist General Conference:
SUGGESTED TITLE: ACADEMIC FREEDOM
AMEND Discipline para.1416.4 by adding the sentence, “In addition, such institutions shall demonstrate a high degree of commitment to academic freedom, observe equal opportunity hiring practices, and seek to create broadly diverse student bodies.”
So that the paragraph in question would read as follows:
Para. 1416.4 To qualify for affiliation with The United Methodist Church, institutions must maintain appropriate academic accreditation. In addition, such institutions shall demonstrate a high degree of commitment to academic freedom, observe equal opportunity hiring practices, and seek to create broadly diverse student bodies.
RATIONALE:
It is essential that the Discipline give clear guidance to the Senate that does not prescribe narrow litmus tests for affiliated institutions to apply in carrying out their mission. It is vital in training future clergy that they be exposed to the lives and faithful witness of faculty who are at the margins of the tradition as well as the center, teaching an expansive, multi-cultural understanding of Christian witness rather than an exclusive and excluding one.