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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1086 



rules for guidance of members of any teaching 

 staff. It would be a sad commentary upon the 

 noble profession of teaching if any university 

 should think a necessity existed to attempt to do so. 

 If a teacher 's own conception of the extent of his 

 responsibility to young students, and his own 

 realization of the importance given to his words by 

 the mere fact that the university has commissioned 

 and trusted him to teach, and has conferred upon 

 him the right to use her name in addressing either 

 students or the public, is not sufficient of itself to 

 impose upon him discretion, dignity, fairness, truth, 

 courtesy, sober-mindedness and consideration for 

 differences of opinion, then manifestly any other 

 form of restraint will be futile. 



In order to discharge the duty laid upon the 

 board by the charter, the trustees are required to 

 observe and determine the qualifications of pros- 

 pective teachers before appointing them as pro- 

 fessors. The usual routine is an engagement as an 

 instructor, an advance to an assistant professor- 

 ship, followed — if justified — by appointment as 

 professor. Dr. Nearing followed this usual course. 

 He was found to have an attractive personality and 

 many good qualities as a teacher. During the en- 

 tire period of the few years in which he was con- 

 nected with the university, however, his efforts — 

 although doubtless perfectly sincere — were so con- 

 stantly and continuously misunderstood by the 

 public and by many parents of students, that much 

 to the regret of the trustees they felt unable to 

 give him the promotion to a professorship which 

 he would otherwise have obtained. The termina- 

 tion of his temporary engagement was therefore 

 absolutely in the line of the duty laid upon the 

 trustees by the charter and in justice to Dr. 

 Nearing himself, who was thus free to employ his 

 talents in fields not circumscribed by either re- 

 quests or promises to avoid strife and turmoil, 

 which are neither necessary nor desirable accom- 

 paniments of the objects for which young men are 

 sent to college by their parents. 



When an individual teacher's methods, language 

 and temperament provoke continued and wide- 

 spread criticism alike from parents of students 

 and from the general public who know him only 

 by his public utterances, the freedom of choice in 

 selection of some other person is a right equally 

 as inherent in the board of trustees legally charged 

 with its exercise by the charter, as is the right of 

 freedom of opinion and thought, and teaching in 

 the faculties. And this duty must be exercised for 

 the good of the imiversity as a whole. 



The responsibilities of the governing body of any 



university as laid down in its charter are not con- 

 fined to the care of its financial and material neces- 

 sities. A selection or choice of an individual 

 teacher is in itself no possible foundation for a 

 just charge of restriction of academic freedom of 

 speech, and is, of course, no indication whatever of 

 a purpose to effect changes in the present teaching 

 staff. 



An expression of its views on this subject made 

 by the board in a somewhat lighter vein some 

 months ago — which it was hoped and supposed 

 was all that would be necessary — is now reaffirmed. 

 It is accordingly again inserted in the minutes, 

 and in connection with this statement indicates the 

 cordial feelings of friendship, admiration and re- 

 spect felt by the trustees as a body and individ- 

 ually for the members of the faculties of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, upon whose untiring 

 and efficient labors the welfare of the institution 

 depends. 



Adopted by the board, 1913, and now reaffirmed: 



' ' In all universities professors habitually express 

 themselves freely upon questions which interest or 

 divide the community. It could never seriously be 

 suggested in any college or university in this 

 country to stifle or control freedom of thought or 

 expression by professors. In a large teaching 

 staff of several hundred men, such as exists at the 

 University of Pennsylvania, occasional unwise 

 utterances are, of course, inevitable, but they do 

 little harm. 



"It is natural for some of the younger teachers 

 to take themselves and their opinions upon current 

 social or economic questions more seriously than is 

 warranted by the extent of their practical experi- 

 ence. It is only the passage of years which leads 

 discreet professors, as well as other workers in the 

 world, to be tolerant of the opinions of other stu- 

 dents of life as it exists. 



' ' Infallible wisdom can not be expected to hover 

 continuously over the chairs of all professors, any 

 more than over aU board rooms of trustees, or over 

 all newspaper or any other ofSces. Differences of 

 opinion must always exist. But if sanity and good 

 temper and sober-mindedness are kept in view by 

 all persons concerned — trustees, professors, students 

 and public — there will seldom be any occasion for 

 criticism, and none at all for an outcry on behalf of 

 liberty of opinion and freedom of speech at the 

 University of Pennsylvania." 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 

 As a memorial to the late Charles E. Bes- 

 sey, the new biological laboratory, about to 



