San Francisco State University this week is much in the news over free speech and academic freedom — for all the wrong reasons. We just discussed how former swimmer Riley Gaines was allegedly assaulted and had to be locked away in a room for her own protection after trying to speak on transgender issues at the school. Now, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has issued a letter to San Francisco State University on a new and troubling controversy over academic freedom. The university opened an investigation into Maziar Behrooz, an associate professor of history, reportedly due to his showing a drawing of the Prophet Muhammad.
The image was displayed once in a class on the history of the Islamic world between 500 and 1700. After a Muslim student complained, the school put Behrooz under investigation. The controversy is closely analogous to the situation discussed earlier at Hamline University where a professor was denied the renewal of his contract after showing a painting of Muhammad in an arts class.
When Behrooz disagreed, the student went to the department chair. The professor explained that the student’s view on the prohibition of any image of Muhammad was not uniformly accepted by Muslims and that many Shiite Muslims have such drawings on walls in their homes. He also correctly noted that he has the academic freedom to make such choices for his class.
Nevertheless, the university launched an investigation. Why? The facts appear established. The only question is whether Behrooz has a right to make such decisions in his course. He clearly does.
I was struck by the anemic expression of academic freedom in the faculty manual of the university. This is the only reference to the core right:
“Academic freedom for all members of the academic community demands that channels of administrative communication be open in both directions, and that they be used regularly and effectively. In 1969-70, the Academic Senate created a Committee on Academic Freedom, elected by the faculty.”
Not exactly a roaring endorsement. However, as a state school, SFSU must comply with the First Amendment and academic freedom has long been extended protections by the courts.
As correctly noted by FIRE, the courts have repeatedly warned against state schools denying the First Amendment protections afforded to academic freedom. Indeed, the words of the Supreme Court in Keyishian v. Bd. of Regents, 385 U.S. 589, 603 (1967), are particularly apt in this case in warning officials not to “cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom.”
“Nevertheless, the university launched an investigation.” (JT)
The worst example of that craven behavior is Yale University. In 2009, its University Press agreed to publish a scholarly book: _The Cartoons That Shook the World_, by Jytte Klausen. “The cartoons” are the Danish cartoons.
Caving to pressure from the enemies of scholarship and education, the Press agreed to publish the book, but only after removing the cartoons — from a book whose subject is the cartoons!
It certainly appears the vast majority of professors at America’s colleges and Universities have either become full-throated disciples of this Communist ideology or they cower down to in fear of losing their well-paid jobs. The students demand and the colleges back down. So much for “higher education”. It’s only one way in today’s America. Thank you, Jonathan, for an excellent article.
Administrators at SFSU have now published a statement in effect excusing the violence against Riley Gaines by transgender activists. No one has been charged or otherwise disciplined.
Why is it common tor mainstream journalists to refer to Mohammed as “Prophet” and not so common for journalists to refer to Jesus as “Christ”?
This is so ridiculous. Images of Muhammad can be found easily today in illustrated copies of Dante’s Inferno (Canto 28), and a relief sculpture of Muhammad is inside our Supreme Court Building. On the web there’s are numerous sites called “Mohammed Image Archive”.
Muslims know this and any attempt to stifle art history professors about such images is pure, inexcusable power-gaming that should be ignored. Islam doesn’t rule here.
The investigation stage is the punishment stage.
Can we just stop the dance and tell the truth?
Muslims will cut your head off for showing the picture.
A family was refused an adopted child because they were Christian. They wont cut anyones head off, because they were offended.
These are Sino-Russian propaganda, indoctrination and brainwashing campaigns.
You have no resolve to stop them – you are afraid to Save The Nation.
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“Give me just one generation of youth, and I’ll transform the whole world.”
– Vladimir Lenin
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Lenin succeeded beyond his wildest dreams – Lenin had no idea you were so willing to give your children, your treasure and your country away.
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Would China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Vietnam et al. allow American brain washers to enter their borders and subjugate their children?
Academic “freedom” is a one-way street at this sad excuse for a place of “higher education.” In these places are way too many enrollees (and faculty members) who are lefty, socialist, so-called progressives, communists, (only) black lives matter (sometimes), “woke,” etc. who subscribe to such freedoms for themselves only so they can spew and their despicable intolerance.
My problem with these defense-of-showing-Mohammed-images articles is that the articles, at least the ones I’ve read, never show the image(s) in question. Which, to me, undercuts the free speech argumnent.
A dissent. If images of the Prophet offends Sunni Muslims or some other large group of Muslims, I would have to ask why teachers cannot avoid showing images. Even the right of free speech does mean that we abandon respect for the sensitivities of others when rooted in centuries-old religions.
“. . . why teachers cannot avoid showing images.”
Because a classroom lectern is not a pulpit.
ask why teachers cannot avoid showing images.
Lot of teachers do avoid.
What you suggest, the Teacher has no free will. One of our Hosts post from several months back, the teacher informed the students, days in advance of her plan the show the picture(s). Polite and caring accommodation was afforded those offended. But like always appeasing the offended never works. Ever more appeasement is demanded and refusal gets you labled a hater.
Appeasement gets you from accepting homosexuality, to demanding you promote the most vile a degraded aspect of the lifestyle choice.
We could also visit the debate about sexually explicit media, provided to elementary students.
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Your criterion, then, is ‘large number’ and ‘centuries old’. How many must be offended and for how many centuries?
Islam-good, Christianity-evil. Jews-evil, Palestinians-good. Israel-evil, Iran-good. USA and the west-evil-any nation made up of people of color-good. Shakespeare-evil, Ibrahm Kendi-literary genius. MTG-evil, AOC-smart!!!
Dear Prof Turley,
I’m not sure there was ‘Islamic’ history in 500 A.D.. Most accounts have the birth of the Prophet around 570 A.D..
*Also, I think a distinction should be drawn between historic ‘images, drawings, art’ and todays craven photo-selfies-pics.
Professor Turley: “The professor explained that the student’s view on the prohibition of any image of Muhammad was not uniformly accepted by Muslims and that many Shiite Muslims have such drawings on walls in their homes.”
The Professor is correct. If the student is still mad about it, he can move to Waziristan.
I posted too quickly. Please, let me restate.
The student is entitled to his outrage, but his sense of outrage is nobody’s absolute authority. If he doesn’t understand that, he’s the problem. Understanding that is growing up. Anything else is Jihadism.
The probable reason for the “anemic expression of academic freedom in the faculty manual,” likely written years ago, is that academic freedom used to be the bedrock of academia. Since the fascist woke mob took over academia, it’s just a distant memory. Americans have not been educated about political movements, and the myth is that all things left are “for the people, and therefore good,” while the right has been historically associated with fascism. But that is a simplistic view of politics, and if we dispense with the “left-right” obfuscation, we are left with broader terms like totalitarianism — which can come from any direction. Today it’s coming mainly from the Democratic party and the Republican Rinos — who are dutifully following the dictates of the arch-totalitarians: the uber-rich Davos crowd.
Add SFSU to the list of places I won’t help pay my grandkids to attend
List is getting rather long
Whig,
You bring up a great point that seems to be absent in all of the controversies taking place in our colleges and universities. We see parents rising up against the Woke ideology in Pre-K through high school. But where are the parents and like you, grandparents, when these children move into post-secondary education? The silence is deafening.
@Olly
Uncle Obama told them on TV a bachelor’s was now the equivalent of a high school diploma. Many, too many, parents themselves either do not think or lack courage, and their interpretation of his statement was, ‘GET THE PIECE OF PAPER AT ANY COST.’.
The irony is that even modern advanced degrees entail ‘rigors’ that could have easily been met by junior high school kids 30 years ago, and let me tell ya: even undergrad is not teaching them to read, write, speak, or do simple math in their heads. The state university here is a bloody joke, we are talking literal sixth grade proficiency, statistically. The Ivy Leagues are only *slightly* better. America has lost any bragging rights it may have once had in this regard, and people, particularly alma mater, have to be in the deepest of denial to not see it. Many simply do not care.
Many, too many, parents themselves either do not think or lack courage,
James, while I agree that the proficiency scores are abysmal, parents whose children are primary or secondary schools are showing the courage to rise up and fight against school boards, teachers and unions destroying our educational system. My question is, where are the parents once these children head off to college?
Good thing the Prof didn’t show the *Charlie Hebdo* cartoons.
Torquemado couldn’t do a better job at suppressing heresies. Yes, we have reached that point in cult behavior. When are the rack and iron maiden, and ultimately, the guillotine going to be brought into service? When will we all become Marranos? I am certain that there are a great many among us who are in such a state of false conversion for fear of losing life and property. If we do not fight back we are cowards to our beliefs and should just STFU and bend over.
Picture of Muhammad
Piss Christ.
Iowan, short, on point, apt, excellent and a perfect example of the hypocrisy of the liberals. Not only was Piss Christ allowed, it was paid for by tax payers dollars. The left went nuts when people had the audacity to complain about Christ being in a jar of urine being an issue for Christians and yet now they demand that a professor be fired for showing a piece of art, historic art no less, of Mohammed.
These are the same hypocrites that want to ban travel to North Carolina for having an issue with boys in the girls bathrooms and yet defend Iran when they toss gays off of rooftops.
Watch the video of the lefty loons screaming at some of these trans rallies…they are lunatics. Nobody is taking away tarns rights, the bills being proffered deny the right of CHILDREN to have life altering surgery before they are old enough to know that they don’t want to be a dinosaur.
PS. The state won’t let kids buy cigarettes…AND THEY WON’T LET PARENTS LET KIDS SMOKE EITHER. So don’t tell us that it is the parents right to cur of an 8 year old boy’s penis, because it isn’t.
When you have to become all things to all people, then you have no ethics, principals, guidance and you become nothing but a huge blob of moral equivalency. If you have no point of view or guiding principals then you are no better than a broken piece of debris on a limitless ocean with no past, future, reason or purpose. Having a point of view and principals does not mean rigidity and unreasoning lockstep but still gives you the capacity to experience, examine, reach conclusions and either cast aside what you are examining or add it to your experience and mind set in order to improve yourself or your understanding of life and the world around you. That’s called thinking and intelligence. That is not ChatGpt.
I do not understand how these kids militantly defend Muslim values but when it comes to Christianity the gloves come off. Why can’t all religion be respected? Some are saying it is because this new gender ideology is supplanting Christianity. It is a tragedy of epic proportions because we need god. I hope more people come to understand what is taking place day by day in this country.
Woke, misguided as it is, has become the new religion (small “r”).
Islam was created by a murderous war lord and “conversion” to it was at the point of a sword.
It is not worthy of respect.