Rebecca Slowik Academic Freedom is a vital part of academia.

Both students and faculty should have the freedom to say what they want in the academic world. Now as just (Id put as instead of just but thats somewhat preference) a reminder, this freedom allows us only to say what we can validate with reasonable proof, and muost be on topic with the content of the course. As educated people, we should be able to listen to people opinions and based on the evidence they have given be able to accept their argument, whether we agree with it or not. Having a debate about it typically can make a lecture more interesting. For example Professor Finkelstein offered a valid argument with the proper evidence to back it up;, lets ignore the fact that he was creating a war with the other professor based on ego, [in the video he seemed like he was being a jerk. The Harvard guy seemed both a jerk and somewhat of a megalomaniac though, and apparently rightly so since he got Finkel fired] by this alone academic freedom should have been on his side and he should not have been asked to leave DePaul University. If we cant allow academic freedom in our universities, whether they be private or public, what are we doing here? What is it all for? Our (pretty sure its supposed to be lowercase in general, though I could see this being an exception and would defer to one with more grammar knowledge) pProfessors within the content of the class should be able to teach a subject without having to worry about what they say. If we limit whats being said in a college classroom, we are not doing our constitution justice. Are we going to censor everything that is being taught that isn controversial? I wonder if perhaps youd wanna connect the last 2 sentences with a colon, if you think theyre related enough. Now I think the importance of academic freedom is vital to our education, because knowledge should never be limited. Professors shouldnt avoid teaching a certain subject because it may be controversial, just like a student shouldnt be denied the opportunity to learn about it, especially if it pertains to their field of study. A medical student should still be taught how to perform an abortion;, whether they decide to or not is a personal choice, or possibly their employers choice. The classroom at such a high academic level should not be censored. Weve looked at this from inside the classroom, what about outside of it? I believe that under certain circumstances students and professors should have this right out side of the classroom as well, especially if they are trying to stand up for this right. For example, allowing students to protest, whether its for gay rights or for some injustice they feel the school has caused them. Now that being said, there once again needs to be validity to their argument and (Id do it should, cause the other seems awkward, but thats just a style preference really) should it in no way disrupt the learning environment. The difference between academic freedom and freedom of speech isare a fine line. Looking at the case in UCLA of the girl who said fairly racist comments .and was forced to leave the school. (fragment. Also she wasnt forced to leave, she was sent death threats and such and left on her own [Erin said so in class]) She, being part of a public institution, should be protected by the freedom of speech amendment;, granted, what she said was fairly idiotic, but it was within the limits of this

amendment. Was it ignorant and ill planned, yes, but was it okay based on the right we have as Americans, yes. The school was wrong in asking her to leave, although a punishment for tarnishing the schools name would have been justified. That being said, at a private institution, the lines can get blurry. Being pPrivate, it can get tricky, since a private institution has a right to deny people if they do not coincided with the mission of the school. If you were throwing out slanderous statements while at a private institution, and you affiliate what youre saying with that said institution, you can be held to a higher standard than those of a public school. So the girl at UCLA was not doing anything wrong when she made that video, just like all the other people who create videos mocking her werent doing anything wrong right in creating them. (this sentence makes it sound like you are making not doing anything wrong equivalent with being or doing right, by saying she did x, just like the others who were right. you may want to make this clearer if possible) They were all just simply using their right to freedom of speech found in our constitution. WWhich is interesting.: [this is a bit weird of a sentence beginner. I would expect to see this following the last sentence if youd put a comma instead of a period. This might be acceptable in a blog post format though? I dont know.] theyThey did they same thing to her that she did to the Asian community, yet she was expected to be punished and they seem to be praised. This is based on the amount of likes their videos received verse the dislike the girl received. Revenge seems to be feeling good about being angry/ignorant in response to anger/ignorance. All because of the message, and sadly, according to freedom of speech, we should not be punished for the message being voiced, but only if they way it is being voiced is unconstitutional. I hope all the commas I added were actually supposed to be there; I seemed to have added a lot, and I know I have superfluous commas in my writing. Though, being cognizant of this, I attempted to only put them where they needed to be. You should probably elaborate more on the Finkelstein case, though I believe you dont need to because a blog post assumes a level of familiarity with things. Still, you need more words, and that would help. Also, you should try to incorporate the reading essays into your work where applicable, or just make stuff up to apply the essay to something you believe. The 3rd essay, Freedom of Deplorable Speech, (page 348) seems to coincide with your view at the end of the UCLA girl not being wholly in the wrong for making her video. On the assignment sheet there were a couple questions that might help you to extend the paper. I also wrote on my assignment sheet something Erin suggested to answer (I think?) What do I make of it from reading, presentation, website? Did it change? Your essay seems alright in general aside from this.

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