Abstract
This article reviews federal case law that address a college instructor’s right to academic freedom over classroom activities. This review shows that the federal courts have defined a college instructor’s academic freedom rights narrowly in terms of the instructor’s classroom activities. Institutions have a great deal of latitude to regulate an instructor’s classroom speech, grading practices, and general manner of teaching a particular college-level course.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Association of University Professors (1940). Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Washington, DC: American Association of University Professors.
Chang, A.W. (2001). Note: Resuscitating the constitutional theory of academic freedom. Stanford Law Review 55, 915–966.
DeMitchell, T.A., & Fossey, R. (1996). At the margin of academic freedom and sexual harassment: Silva v. University of New Hampshire. Education Law Reporter 111, 13–32.
Dziech, B.W., & Weiner, L. (1990). The lecherous professor: Sexual harassment on campus. (2nd Ed.) Urbana, Ill. University of Illinois Press.
Fossey, R., & Roberts, N. (2002). Academic freedom and uncivil speech: When may a college regulate what an instructor says in the classroom? Education Law Reporter 168(2), 549–564.
Fossey, R., & Wood, R.C. (2004, Spring). Academic freedom and tenure. In R.C. Cloud (ed.), New Directions for Community Colleges: Legal Issues in the Community Colleges 125, 51–64.
Kinser, K., & Fossey, R. (2001). Urofsky v. Gilmore: The Fourth Circuit takes a narrow view of academic freedom. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education 15(1), 51–57.
Woodward, L.M. (1999). Collision in the classroom: Is Academic freedom a license for sexual harassment? Capital University Law Review 27, 667–708.
Zirkel, P.A. (1988). Academic freedom of individual faculty members. Education Law Reporter 47, 809–824.
Legal References
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 474 U.S. 814 (1986).
Bishop v. Aronov, 926 F.2d 1066 (11th Cir. 1991).
Bonnell v. Lorenzo, 241 F.3d 800 (6th Cir.) cert. denied 534 U.S. 951(2001).
Brown v. Armenti, 247 F.3d 69 (3d Cir. 2001).
Dambrot v. Central Michigan University, 55 F.3d 1177 (6th Cir. 1995).
Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 (1968).
Hardy v. Jefferson Community College, 360 F.3d 671 (6th Cir. 2001), cert. denied sub. nom. Besser v. Hardy, 535 U.S. 970 (2002).
Hetrick v. Martin, 480 F.2d 705 (6th Cir. 1973).
Johnson-Kurek v. Abu-Absi, 423 F.3d 590 (6thCir. 2005).
Keefe v. Geanakos, 418 F.2d 359 (1st Cir. 1969).
Lovelace v. Southeastern Massachusetts University, 793 F.2d 419 (1st Cir. 1986).
Martin v. Parrish, 805 F.2d 583 (5th 1986).
Parate v. Isibor, 868 F.2d 821 (6th1989).
Piggee v. Carl Sandburg College, 464 F.3d 667 (7th Cir. 2006).
Ruben v. Ikenberry, 933 F.Supp.1425 (C.D. Ill. 1996).
Silva v. University of New Hampshire, 888 F.Supp. 293 (D.N.H. 1994).
Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234 (1957).
Urofsky v. Gilmore, 216 F.3d 401 (4th Cir. 2000).
Wirsing v. Board of Regents, 759 F.Supp. 551 (D.Colo. 1990).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fossey, R. University Oversight of Professors’ Teaching Activities: A Professor’s Academic Freedom Does not Mean Freedom From Institutional Regulation. J Pers Eval Educ 19, 159–173 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-007-9043-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-007-9043-6