Academic Freedom and the Research University

Richard C. Atkinson, President Emeritus, University of California

Abstract

The article argues that the principles upon which academic freedom is founded must be elaborated and modified in ways that are relevant to the responsibilities and circumstances of today's universities. The article elucidates the UC's new statement on academic freedom, which honors the long history and tradition of the principles of academic freedom, but also breaks new ground in that it explicitly recognizes the means of maintaining those freedoms. The new policy affirms the principle that faculty conduct will be assessed in reference to academic values and professional norms, an inherently broad and flexible standard that is properly left to the determination of the faculty.