Comments on: AAUP 10 years later

By: Secco

Secco — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:54:45 +0000

Yes, I found this case interesting as well, at a number of levels. I was saddened to see how ostracized Dr. Houston was — even the AAUP could see that there were problems. But I was also saddened to see how much it seemed that AAUP fundamentally couldn’t grasp what was at stake for a religious university. That the new email trumpeted their position so self-righteously suggests that they still don’t quite understand how they got it wrong.

Every university has “untouchable” or “heretical” ideas, whether it is eugenics or the idea that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS or that 9/11 was secretly sponsored by the CIA. Espousal of such ideas can lead to ejection from the university, but with a approbation by most observers. I don’t follow the AAUP’s activities closely enough to know if they’ve been consistent in such cases, or highlighted their defense of such cases. Perhaps academic freedom is somewhat in the eyes of the beholder; the AAUP appears to not really accept religious views as capable of being normative for a community, then or now.

By: TT

TT — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:29:02 +0000

This was certainly a fascinating case, and it was nice to revisit it and to read directly the report and the defense. It did seem that the AAUP fundamentally misunderstood, and continues to do so in the characterization of the event in this email, the issues in Mormonism that were at stake. For many, this was not some minor theological dispute, but had the potential to shake the very foundations of contemporary Mormonism. While I am not totally convinced that such things should not be taught, advocated, and discussed at a place like BYU, it did seem that the AAUP’s attempt to referee the issue by claiming that the standards were insufficiently clear was a reflection on their own misunderstanding, rather than the potential for any LDS to misunderstand.

By: Stephen M (Ethesis)

Stephen M (Ethesis) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:07:10 +0000

Ah, and the real issue was collegiality, if I recall this case correctly, based on class and social status differences.

My take was influenced by one of the more conservative members of the department who felt they should have kept her, and that her failure to make tenure had to do with publicly liberal members who complained about her behind her back.

A sad story, all in all. I’ll have to check to see where she eventually landed.

Ahh “Gail Turley Houston appears to be the director of women studies at the University of New Mexico”

A good ending for her, all in all, for which I am grateful.