To: Bryon Grigsby, President, Moravian College
President Grigsby: Respect Academic Freedom!
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Publicly rebuking a Moravian College professor in a newspaper is both unprecedented and a dangerous move against academic freedom. A Moravian College President should encourage free & open debate, not stifle it.
Why is this important?
On February 10, Moravian College Professor Gary Olson penned an op-ed in The Morning Call. (Read it here: http://bit.ly/1e5uog2)
He discussed the 9/11 memorial which he had recently visited, Noel John Foster, a former student of his killed in the World Trade Center, and the commitment to peace and opposition to U.S. foreign policy that both Olson and Foster held in common.
In a move unbefitting a Moravian College President, a week later President Bryon Grigsby wrote a letter to the editor attacking Dr. Olson. (The full text of the letter is below.)
• Grigsby doesn't engage with any of the ideas or assertions that Olson wrote, preferring to attack him saying anything political at all. That's not a debate of ideas. That's an attempt to silence.
• Given Noel Foster's own activist politics (Noel himself was an anti-apartheid activist as a student), it's especially galling to insist that Olson keep a "political platform" out of any discussion about his former student. No one has the right to police how people choose to remember their loved ones.
• Writing that Olson "does not speak on behalf of Moravian College" is unnecessary, because that fact was never in question, so it simply serves to try and isolate Olson from the college and community he has called home for decades.
Agree with him or not, Gary Olson is the rare academic who actually writes for mainstream consumption. This is the first time we can find that a President has chosen to publicly rebuke him.
President Grigsby: We urge you to resist whatever censorious pressures you are receiving. If past Moravian presidents, including an Air Force lieutenant general, weren't threatened by Dr. Olson’s engagement in the debate of ideas, then we suggest you take a cue from your predecessors. If not for Dr. Olson’s sake, for the sake of non-tenured and adjunct professors who no doubt now feel unsafe in speaking their conscience.
President Grigsby’s letter:
"The greatest value all colleges and universities share is the open and free debate of ideas within its community. The act of debate makes for a stronger college, a more vibrant community, a better-informed citizenry and a stronger nation. It is with this in mind that I write to share my concern regarding Gary Olson's latest Your View, 'Visit to 9/11 Memorial prompts reflections on attacks.'
In the Your View, he uses the tragic death of a Moravian alumnus, Noel Foster, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center as an opportunity to promote his own political platform. I did not know Noel personally, but in the face of unimaginable circumstances, Noel made choices that epitomized bravery and concern for others. This is how he should be memorialized.
While Gary Olson is more than welcome to express his personal belief and opinions, he does not speak on behalf of Moravian College or the alumni, students, faculty or staff."
(Link to Grigsby’s letter here: http://bit.ly/1gDaA8S)
He discussed the 9/11 memorial which he had recently visited, Noel John Foster, a former student of his killed in the World Trade Center, and the commitment to peace and opposition to U.S. foreign policy that both Olson and Foster held in common.
In a move unbefitting a Moravian College President, a week later President Bryon Grigsby wrote a letter to the editor attacking Dr. Olson. (The full text of the letter is below.)
• Grigsby doesn't engage with any of the ideas or assertions that Olson wrote, preferring to attack him saying anything political at all. That's not a debate of ideas. That's an attempt to silence.
• Given Noel Foster's own activist politics (Noel himself was an anti-apartheid activist as a student), it's especially galling to insist that Olson keep a "political platform" out of any discussion about his former student. No one has the right to police how people choose to remember their loved ones.
• Writing that Olson "does not speak on behalf of Moravian College" is unnecessary, because that fact was never in question, so it simply serves to try and isolate Olson from the college and community he has called home for decades.
Agree with him or not, Gary Olson is the rare academic who actually writes for mainstream consumption. This is the first time we can find that a President has chosen to publicly rebuke him.
President Grigsby: We urge you to resist whatever censorious pressures you are receiving. If past Moravian presidents, including an Air Force lieutenant general, weren't threatened by Dr. Olson’s engagement in the debate of ideas, then we suggest you take a cue from your predecessors. If not for Dr. Olson’s sake, for the sake of non-tenured and adjunct professors who no doubt now feel unsafe in speaking their conscience.
President Grigsby’s letter:
"The greatest value all colleges and universities share is the open and free debate of ideas within its community. The act of debate makes for a stronger college, a more vibrant community, a better-informed citizenry and a stronger nation. It is with this in mind that I write to share my concern regarding Gary Olson's latest Your View, 'Visit to 9/11 Memorial prompts reflections on attacks.'
In the Your View, he uses the tragic death of a Moravian alumnus, Noel Foster, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center as an opportunity to promote his own political platform. I did not know Noel personally, but in the face of unimaginable circumstances, Noel made choices that epitomized bravery and concern for others. This is how he should be memorialized.
While Gary Olson is more than welcome to express his personal belief and opinions, he does not speak on behalf of Moravian College or the alumni, students, faculty or staff."
(Link to Grigsby’s letter here: http://bit.ly/1gDaA8S)