Dear Senators,

You may recall that the academic freedom of a University of Kansas faculty members was recently threatened by legislative attacks on the Human Sexuality class taught by Professor Dennis Dailey at the University of Kansas.  Senator Susan Wagle, who spearheaded the attacks, stated in a recent editorial in the Wichita Eagle, "the academic freedom of instructors ends at the point where the rights of students in the classroom are being infringed upon."

The American Association of University Professors, however, contends that precisely because students in Kansas have the right to a quality higher education, that we must ensure that right by protecting the academic freedom of faculty members.

If you share our concern regarding the protection of academic freedom and if you would like to hear about the ordeal of Professor Dailey which is not over yet -- then you should plan to attend the fall AAUP Kansas Conference at the University of Kansas.  The meeting will be Saturday, October 18, 2003. A business meeting starts at 10:30 and lunch is at 12:00.

The part of this meeting that may interest you the most is the talk at 12:45 by David Brodsky. His topic is "The Broad Perspective of Academic Freedom." Dr. Brodsky is a member of the UMKC Chapter of AAUP, manager of the chapter website, and founder of the Education for Democracy Network.

At 1:45 there will be a panel discussion on academic freedom.  The topic is: "Where does Academic Freedom End and Students' Rights Begin?"

The members of the panel are:Dennis Dailey, Professor of KU School of Social Welfare Ann Springer, National AAUP Legal Staff - Washington DC David Brodsky mentioned above.

Some of the specific questions the panel members will address are:   

What constitutes academic freedom? How can we best ensure that academic freedom is preserved?

What are students' rights? Where do these rights begin and end?

What are faculty members' rights? Where do they begin and end?

A "Q & A" period will follow the panel discussion.

You may attend the business meeting, if you wish, or come for lunch and the talk and the panel discussion. It is up to you. If you are interested let me know, and perhaps we can carpool together to the meeting.