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Ithaca College

I learned recently that at least one IC alumnus has taken exception to the publication of Professor Asma Barlas’s article on the grounds that it is un-American and therefore should not have been published. In these trying and uncertain times, I can understand why protecting our sense of ourselves as Americans is important. But I am deeply concerned that Professor Barlas, a colleague of conscience and courage who has shared a reasoned, considered perspective with us all, would be targeted in this way. My concern extends, as well, to both President Williams and the ICQ editor, Maura Stephens, because the criticism seems to imply that they erred in their respective roles by allowing this article to be published.

As both an alumna and faculty member, my heart is heavy with disappointment at the idea that any attack would be leveled against a member of this community simply because she was responsible enough to participate in an exchange of ideas on the most pressing matters of our time. One of the most challenging aspects of living in a free society is finding ways to disagree civilly, respectfully, and even thankfully, without resorting to personal attacks. It is my hope that this, rather than subject matter, will be the legacy I pass along to my students: how to live together with diverse and disparate viewpoints, allowing and expecting them to exist while valuing the privilege of being permitted to believe individually as we each decide.

This kind of negative response to the essay in the ICQ makes me wonder how successful we have been as an academic community in educating our students --- who become our graduates --- about appreciation for the free expression of ideas in a democracy, the ethical obligations of the professoriat to seek and tell the truth as responsibly as they can, the tenets of academic freedom, and the fundamental rights accorded citizens under the First Amendment.

If we were to stifle ideas as some wish, what would we be left with as an academic community? Would faculty with professional expertise and life experience be asked to remain silent about what they know? Would some students whose viewpoints were in the minority not be permitted to speak in class? Would graduates insist that only articles that conform to their beliefs appear in College publications? And what, then, would those beliefs be?

It seems to me that the publication of Professor Barlas’s article and the sentiments expressed therein are not anti-American at all but emblematic of exactly what this country --- and this College --- are all about.

Ellen Staurowsky, M.S. ’79
Associate Professor, Department of Sport Studies