Marquette University - Hilltop Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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Academic Freedom F REEDOM characteristically belongs to those who possess reason. Since what man chooses as a means to an end is viewed as good, and since good is what he desires, freedom of choice belongs to the will which is enlightened by the knowledge possessed by the intellect. Because the object of both the rational will and its liberty is the good which conforms to reason, possible error and actual error are defects of the mind. Man, acting according to reason, acts of himself and in conformity to his free will—and this is liberty. In academic freedom, which is a particularized form of freedom, there is involved, in addition to one’s choice of his own good, the choosing of what will be good for others. Upon teachers rests the responsibility of conforming to right reason so that what they present to their students is true. Academic freedom means the right to learn the truth and to teach the truth. A teacher has the right to impart what is suitable to the student's mind, wliat will provide for the well-being and perfection of each intelligent nature. But along with that right, the teacher also has an obligation. It is his duty to bring knowledge to those who lack it anti to keep and further it in those who have it. The teacher’s duty' coincides with the right of man to know and increase his knowledge of the truth. Teachers are generally associated with some educational institution. Possessing the truth, the facility of that institution is obliged to teach it, and should do so without restriction. That is one phase of academic freedom. A university can encourage her teachers to proceed to conclusions resulting from their own thought and study. She can direct them to self-advancement by means of research on her time as well as on the individuals’ time. She can encourage their progress by granting leaves of absence for further study or experimentation. She can invite these men to make permanent records of their findings to her walls, a university can urge their widespread publication. By so doing, she will exhibit pride in her members and through their success, advance her own reputation. Marquette University’s aim in education is in accord with the fundamental purposes of Jesuit education—to outfit the human intellect with wisdom and knowledge which will attract the human will to the ways of achievement which God designed for man. Marquette believes that “to the extent that intellectual activity is not free, man is not free.” Her statutes say, “The natural sacred right of freedom of expression is, of course, recognized by Marquette University as a requisite for effective and intelligent dissemination of ideas. Marquette fosters her l»eliefs by permitting her faculty members to present to their students their thoughts and ideas on subjects in which they are specialists. Marquette has granted leaves of absence to numerous instructors for advanced work in philosophy, history, language, science, journalism. She has welcomed publications of her faculty and has promoted them enthusiastically. She has encouraged and made facilities

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college or university. The “self-educated man can accomplish much, but he necessarily does it in a slow and fragmentary manner. The systematic learning supplied by a good college enables us to make intelligent, reasonable religious choices, causing rules of suppression to lx unnecessary. Education aids the cause of religious liberty in still another way. In learning to seek truth, we also learn how difficult tliat search is. If the religious choices of another seem misguided to us. we realize tliat any human being can attain the truth only after much effort. Our inclination, then, is to attempt to move the other by reasoning and prayer, ratlier than by force. Marquette University, therefore, with its high educational standards, prepares its students both to be free and to respect the freedom of others. A specific-ally Catholic education, moreover, is especially valuable in promoting freedom. • Many schools of our day. though they may be quite advanced in their teaching of secular knowledge, are content to leave their students with a rudimentary concept of Cod. Catholic schooling, on the other hand, keeps Cod in our intellectual life. We are therefore encouraged to see the world and mankind in their proper relation to God. instead of falling into tlx habit of making all our judgments in worldly terms. In addition, a Catholic education aids freedom because of its results in the moral character of the students. Having become convinced of our obligations to Cod, and consequently to men. wo will need fewer laws to make us perform our duties to God; and we will lx aware that we are morally bound to treat our fellows with justice and charity, however disagreeable tbeir religious profestations may appear. Tliat these claims are true of Marquette may lx seen by the attitude of its directors toward conscience and religious duties. Many Marquette students are non-Catholics. Though they are welcome to take theology courses, they are not forced to do so. Moreover, they need not attend any sort of Catholic religious services. Yet they are encouraged to worship God actively in whatever way is theirs. Catholic students, too, are not forced into worship. Nobody checks on how often they attend Mass or go to confession. Nobody attempts to investigate the amount of virtue in their private lives. It is taken for granted that the)- know what things they ought to do. and are capable of freely choosing to do them. Thus Marquette, following its purpose of increasing and communicating tlx knowledge of truth, prepares its students well to lx guardians of religious freedom.

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available for specialized research. Marquette provides occasions for her instructors to promote their views through frequent faculty-administration conferences. She recognizes the men and women on her faculty as necessary parts of a whole anti, therefore, does not seek to dominate them. The other aspect of academic freedom involves the student. His life at the university is a gradual liberating process. Whereas at first the wisdom and experience of the faculty and administration substitute for the lack of wisdom and experience in the student, as the student progresses in his education, he is given more responsibility and more freedom of action. Throughout his university career, the student is free to remain in the university or to leave the university, to study or not to study, to study well or to study poorly. Although the intellect is naturally compelled to accept the truth when it is known, and although the student is taught that to know some things is better than to know other things, yet the student is free to choose one branch of specialized knowledge rather than another. Thus, the Marquette student benefits from the obligation which his University has imposed upon herself—of possessing, communicating, and increasing knowledge. He is offered a variety of paths to the truth-philosophy, theology, art. science. He is forced to accept no one of them, but is encouraged to think through to the truth in whatever field he judges to l e lx st in accord with his own inclinations and abilities. At Marquette, a student may choose his own courses. He may seek advice from any teacher. He may participate freely in classroom discussions. The student may do research on his own and set forth his findings in papers he writes. He may conduct experiments and, in so doing, seek any extra help he wishes. In fulfilling her educational obligations, Marquette affords academic freedom to Ixith teacher and student. In the process, she remains close to her dedicated purpose-of teaching what is true. The paths to truth are many, but the ultimate goal is the same. The means to achieve it through knowledge, can constantly be advanced. Marquette is ever watchful to increase knowledge through her faculty as well as in her students. By doing this, she expands the truth and disseminates it widely, thus serving not only her own community, but her state, her nation, and the world.