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November 17, 2021 1:15 pm
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A Lesson in Impartiality From the Military for Anti-Israel Academics

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avatar by Evan D. Morris

Opinion

Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut//WikiCommons

Free speech is one of our most treasured constitutional legacies. But free speech does not mean the freedom to speak in the name of a whole group or institution merely because the speaker is a member. There is wisdom in US military policy that could serve as a lesson for all speakers — especially partisan academics.

Following the conflict between Israel and Hamas last May, whole departments of university professors — many of them Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (at USC and Yale, for example) adopted and posted extreme, anti-Israel, anti-American, one-sided (“We do not subscribe to a ‘both-sides’ rhetoric”) and slogan-laden statements on their official websites, and disseminated them through official university channels.

The statements were made in the name of the departments.

By their actions, those in charge of the departments hoped to suggest that the entire department — or worse, the entire university — endorsed their position. These were mis-appropriations of each university’s good name.

What followed at two elite universities is a study in contrasts.

In the first case, a large group of prominent USC faculty recognized the threat to their institution, and petitioned their administration.

Commendably, the USC administration mobilized to re-define limits on partisan activity on campus. A letter from USC Provost Charles Zukoski reaffirmed the principles of the American Association of University Professors: “When speaking on public matters, faculty should […] make every effort to indicate that they are not speaking for the institution.”

At Yale, however, no unified action was taken by faculty members, and no affirmation of principles has been forthcoming from the administration.

Aren’t Women’s Studies professors and others entitled to free speech? Yes. Are they entitled to use official university resources to promote their partisan views? No. Departments cannot be allowed to make political statements as departments. That prohibits free academic exchange.

You cannot have good-faith debate and education once a department has staked out the single acceptable position. Once a university allows its good offices to be monopolized by a partisan group — of any leaning — it loses all authority. It also gives the lie to any grand claims of inclusivity.

What institution, above all others in a democracy, must fiercely guard its political neutrality against any perception of partisanship? The military.

The US military exists to protect all citizens regardless of political, racial, religious, or ethnic affiliation. It cannot afford to be seen as the agent of only one party. To maintain the appearance and reality of non-partisanship, the military code of conduct prohibits active-duty personnel from appearing at political events in uniform.

Service people are allowed — even encouraged — to exercise their rights as citizens. They are encouraged to vote. But they are prohibited from usurping the authority of the institution for political ends.

Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 addresses political activities of members of the Armed Forces. In addition to voting, active members may attend political meetings, petition for legislative action, or write letters to newspapers. All rights we hold dear as citizens. But members may not appear at political rallies in uniform, “when an inference of official sponsorship for the activity […] could be drawn.”

In academia, generally speaking, we have no uniforms. But when it is warranted, we have other ways of conveying the implied sponsorship of our actions by our institution. When I lecture on my research that is supported by Yale, I put the name or emblem of Yale University on my presentation. When I advertise my scientific findings that were made possible by Yale resources, I may do it on a Yale website. But I do not usurp the university’s authority by posting my private political views on its platforms or in communiques that bear the imprimatur of Yale.

The US military recognizes that its authority would be diminished if it were seen as partisan. It has rules and it drums these rules into its initiates. Universities that allow the boundaries between personal and institutional opinions to be eroded by a minority of their members risk earning reputations as partisan playthings of one group. For some institutions, it might already be too late.

Evan D. Morris, PhD, is Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at Yale. He was previously a professor at Indiana and Purdue. He is an expert in the use of advanced brain imaging for studying addiction and other brain disorders and has also taught and written on Biomedical Ethics.

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