In 1940 the American Association of University Professors along with the American Association of Colleges issued a document that was based on a series of conversations going back to 1915 and before. The document articulates support for academic freedom and tenure and while it has been reviewed and reissued over time, a fundamental feature of the Statement is its longevity. The designers of this foundational document underscored that free speech is essential to academic freedom and tenure and to the general common good. It is understood that colleges and universities are established to reflect that common good and not the personal interests of individual faculty and/or institutions. The intent of the designers of the 1940 Statement was to promote greater understanding of the linkage between academic freedom and tenure as addressed in both teaching and research. The Statement was never intended, however, to give faculty and scholars carte blanche to say anything. One paragraph of the Statement, in fact, reminds “teachers” that they should exercise restraint to ensure that they never give the impression they are speaking for their institutions. 

This year the Center for Faculty Development and the ODU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors are hosting a series of discussions about Academic Freedom and Tenure. We invite you to attend the first of a three-part series on October 22 at activity hour. All members of the ODU community are invited to this event.

Our distinguished speakers will be Ruth Triplett, Professor and Chair of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Dennis Gregory, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in the Higher Education Graduate Program and a former Provost’s Fellow for the First Amendment (2018-2020), and Tatyana Lobova, University Distinguished Teacher and Master Lecturer in Biological Sciences. Both Drs. Gregory and Lobova are members of the University Faculty Senate, and Lobova is also a General Education Reform Policy and Process Specialist. Director of the Center for Faculty Development, Professor of History and University Professor, Annette Finley-Croswhite, will moderate the discussion.  
 

In Part 1 of this series, we will ask: How relevant in tenure today? Does this document still speak for us all or did it ever? The panel discussion and Q & A will explore the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure and its importance today. Parts 2 and 3 of the series will occur in spring 2025.

The event is available face-to-face in the Library Commons 1310-1311 and on ZOOM: https://odu.zoom.us/j/91693589355. The Library Commons location will include light refreshments.

We hope you can attend, but a recording will be made for those who cannot.

If you are not familiar with the 1940 document, you can read more about it in advance of this event here: AAUP 1940 Statement.

Reference:

Metzger, Walter. (1990). The 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Law and Contemporary Problems 53(3), 3-77.
https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol53/iss3/3