U.S. News & World Report Op-Ed: Can Belief in God Strengthen Academic Freedom?, by Jim Gash (President & CEO, Pepperdine University):
What is academic freedom?
That is the fundamental question facing higher education leaders today. …
Academic freedom is at the heart of what it means to be an institution of higher learning. Broadly understood, it is the ability of faculty — and, some would say, students — to pursue knowledge through research, teaching and speaking, without undue influence or censorship. It is the responsibility of higher education leaders to help define and defend the nature, purpose and scope of academic freedom.
Recently, faculty, staff and administrators from across the country gathered at my institution, Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, to consider precisely these questions — but from a unique vantage point: faith.
Pepperdine is a private Christian college of about 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, and the universities that gathered on our campus this summer are among the 850 institutions nationwide that claim a religious affiliation — including Santa Clara in California, Brigham Young in Utah, Emory in Georgia, Notre Dame in Indiana and Wheaton College in Illinois. The question before us was not merely the nature and purpose of academic freedom, but also how the notion of academic freedom should interact with the values of a faith-based institution of higher learning.
That distinction is important. While nearly all universities claim to cherish academic freedom, I believe that there are advantages to being an institution of faith when it comes to the pursuit of truth. …
Faith-based institutions are intentional, honest and forthright about the values we are attempting to pass on – and about the perspective from which we are educating. With a firm institutional faith in God, we are not afraid of scientific and intellectual investigation, because we are confident that such inquiry will reveal truths about God's character and world. …
Pepperdine has always welcomed students of all faiths or no faith to our table. As our university’s founder told students in his first chapel address, “We want to present to you, in teaching and example, the Christian way of life. We do not compel you to accept it. You are free to make your own choice.”
To my fellow members of the higher education landscape, my challenge is this: As we seek to promote academic freedom on our campuses, let us do so in a way that is honest about and true to the values that undergird our institutions. Let us seek to cultivate environments of robust dialogue and genuine investigation. Let us seek the truth relentlessly and without fear — together.
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