The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship is a Canadiannon-profit organization founded to promote academic freedom and intellectual excellence on Canadian college and university campuses. It opposes campus speech codes, political and religious tests for academic hiring, hate-speech legislation that restricts academic freedom, and non-merit-based affirmative action in university hiring. The society also works to promote reasoned debate on a wide range of issues relating to academic freedom and scholarly excellence. Although its membership is open to the general public, the society is composed mostly of faculty and students from Canadian universities.
History
The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship was established in 1992 in London, Ontario. Its first newsletter was published in May 1992.
Founding members
The society's initial membership included the following founding academic officers:
Since its founding, the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship has published a regular tri-annual newsletter, originally entitled the Society for Academic Freedom & Scholarship Newsletter, later renamed the SAFS Newsletter. The Newsletter contains news articles and commentary relating to issues in higher education. The first issue appeared in May, 1992. It contained articles by Judy Wubnig and John Furedy, as well as announcements from the Board of Directors. Editors of the Newsletter have been as follows:
1992-1994: Judy Wubnig, PhD
1994-2000: Christine Furedy, DPhil
2000-2004: Nancy K. Innis, PhD
2004-2015: Clive Seligman, PhD
2015–present: Mark Mercer, PhD.
Mandate and goals
In its first newsletter, the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship listed its central goals as being the defense of intellectual freedom and the promotion of academic excellence. Specifically, it listed the society's founding purposes as being " To resist the ideological misuse of teaching and scholarship, To support rigorous standards in research and teaching in university hiring practices, and To preserve academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas, regardless of popular doctrine." Beginning in 2001, the society began advertising its main purpose as helping to maintain "freedom in teaching, research and scholarship" and helping to defend "high standards of excellence in academic decision making concerning both students and faculty".
Funding
The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship is financed solely by membership fees and voluntary donations.
Activities and Influence
Throughout its history, SAFS has been vocal in its opposition to policies it believes are inconsistent with the goals of an open, meritocratic, academic community. It is in this context that it has spoken out against campus speech codes, hate-speech legislation that impinges on academic freedom, religious and political tests used in place of strictly academic criteria in university hiring, and non-merit-based affirmative action programs for the hiring of university faculty and librarians. The society has also aspired to promote reasoned debate on a wide range of cases and issues relating to academic freedom and scholarship quite broadly. In addition to sponsoring conferences and panel discussions, the society makes publicly available on its official website most of its correspondence concerning cases it has been involved with. The correspondence, which often includes replies from university administrators, union representatives and others, gives helpful insight into a large variety of important Canadian cases relating to academic freedom. According to The Globe and Mail columnist Robert Fulford, SAFS has stood up for academic freedom at a time when "fresh waves of intolerance continue to sweep across academe." According to National Post columnist Barbara Kay, the society has as its members "accomplished, disinterested, ruthlessly honest academics united in visceral contempt for those of their peers who are willing to bend and manipulate the truth to serve their ideological ends." Unlike some other non-profit societies with similar goals, SAFS has been as much concerned with the academic freedom of university students as it has with the academic freedom of university faculty. For several years the society recognized important contributions to academic freedom through the Furedy Academic Freedom Award. Established by John and Christine Furedy in honour of Bela and Dusi Furedy, the award recognized members of the university community, both students and faculty, who have championed academic freedom. Keynote speakers at the society's annual general meetings have included The Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente, National Post columnist Barbara Kay, Canadian Association of University Teachersexecutive director James Turk, National Association of Scholars presidents Stephen Balch and Peter Wood, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education presidents Alan Kors and Greg Lukianoff, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms president John Carpay, York University historian Jack Granatstein, University of Torontoclinical psychologistJordan Peterson, University of Ottawa English professor Janice Fiamengo and Concordia University rector and vice-chancellor Frederick Lowy. Since its founding, the society has regularly been called on by the media to comment on cases relating to academic freedom across Canada.
