Ending tenure at South Carolina’s universities will harm students

Academic freedom isn’t some new concept in this country.

In 1819, however, when former President Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, his was a radical notion.

“This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it,” Jefferson said.

Take a moment to digest Jefferson’s words.

He spoke of the limitless potential of our minds to learn, to study, to understand, to question.

American universities have rightly followed that model, but increasingly American politicians seem adverse to the notion

The latest group to seek to limit academic freedom is a group of 23 Republican members of the South Carolina legislature who support House Bill 4522, better known as the “Cancelling Professor Tenure Act.”

The bill would prohibit public colleges and universities from awarding tenure to employees hired in 2023 or later. Instead, faculty members would be offered contracts no longer than five years.

It would also eliminate tenure if there are no more tenured employees at an institution as of December 2022.

A similar effort failed earlier this year in Iowa.

The American Association of University Professors defines tenure as “an indefinite appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency and program discontinuation.”

Rep. Bill Taylor, the bill’s sponsor, told our reporter Lucas Daprile that “There are no guarantees of lifelong employment. The question is always why professors in higher education are the single exception. In my view, each of us needs to demonstrate their work.”

But Taylor ignores why tenure exists.

Consider Jefferson’s quote again.

“We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”

Imagine a college or university campus where professors are afraid to introduce new ideas, research or theories or to combat those who spew misinformation in their place simply because they might be controversial or unpopular.

Tenure gives professors the freedom to tackle issues, topics, histories and controversies without fear of reprisals or reprimand.

It allows ideas to be shared in our classrooms where students and faculty can interact, reason and debate.

“If HB 4522 bill becomes law, it would do irreparable damage to the quality of education in the South Carolina public university system by destroying the means by which academic freedom is protected, which is tenure. The principal purpose of tenure is to safeguard academic freedom, which is indispensable for the quality of teaching and research in higher education,” Kelly Benjamin, spokesperson for the American Association of University Professors wrote in an email Tuesday to The State Editorial Board.

Kelly added, “In service of the common good, tenure allows faculty members to pursue research and innovation, and to draw evidence-based conclusions free from corporate, religious, or political pressure. At reputable institutions of higher education, academic freedom is protected because tenured professors can be dismissed only for reasons related to professional fitness and only after a hearing before a faculty body at which the administration must make its case that the faculty member’s conduct or performance warrants dismissal.”

“If passed, HB 4522 would put into place a system that will shift the burden of proof from an institution’s administration (to show cause for dismissal) to the individual faculty member (to show cause why he or she should be retained,” Kelly wrote.

At a time when schools across the country, including in South Carolina, are debating banning books and limiting what history should be taught, we must stand up for the right of our children to learn and for our teachers to teach all the world has to offer.

We urge the legislature to reject Taylor’s bill, which at its heart would give university professors reason to stay silent rather than “follow truth wherever it may lead.”