Academic freedom at Brigham Young University has been the subject of several controversies regarding the school, mostly focusing on its religious nature. In 1992, BYU issued a statement limiting academic freedom in certain areas, including language that attacked The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and language that violates the university's honor code. Since this statement was released, the university has received continued accreditation from the Northwest Association of Schools and of Colleges and Universities, which specifically approved of the new statement, as it was typical of many religious institutions. In 1997, the American Association of University Professors (with a membership of about 47,000) criticized BYU based on the wording of the new statement, as well as recent controversies involving several professors allegedly denied their academic rights. Cecilia Konchar Farr, David Knowlton, Gail T. Houston, are among the more notable controversies, although BYU has stated that these professors' discharge was based on issues other than academic speech.
Famous quotes containing the words academic, freedom, brigham, young and/or university:
“If twins are believed to be less intelligent as a class than single-born children, it is not surprising that many times they are also seen as ripe for social and academic problems in school. No one knows the extent to which these kind of attitudes affect the behavior of multiples in school, and virtually nothing is known from a research point of view about social behavior of twins over the age of six or seven, because this hasnt been studied either.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)
“The point of the dragonflys terrible lip, the giant water bug, birdsong, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows, is not that it all fits together like clockwork--for it doesnt ... but that it all flows so freely wild, like the creek, that it all surges in such a free, finged tangle. Freedom is the worlds water and weather, the worlds nourishment freely given, its soil and sap: and the creator loves pizzazz.”
—Annie Dillard (b. 1945)
“Looks like we got a trial ahead of us. But its not the first time. Weve had to go it alone before, and well have to go it alone again. Were tough. Weve had to be tough ever since Brother Brigham led our people across the plain. Well, they survived and I dang it, well, well, well survive too. Now put out your fires and get to your wagons.”
—Frank S. Nugent (19081965)
“A young child is no longer simply a child; he or she is a preschooler, poised at the starting gate in the race of life.”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)
“The university is no longer a quiet place to teach and do scholarly work at a measured pace and contemplate the universe. It is big, complex, demanding, competitive, bureaucratic, and chronically short of money.”
—Phyllis Dain (b. 1930)