One of the fundamental tenets of our country is our ability to express our thoughts, religious beliefs and personal opinions free from persecution, discrimination and suppression. Our Founding Fathers believed these freedoms to be so vital and inherent to our nascent country's existence that they protected them in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Here, at Miami University, classrooms often become an arena for polemical debate - a feature I believe is conducive to learning and enhances our university experience.
However, when academic deliberations cross the threshold and abuse the freedoms our Founding Fathers fought for, intervention must transpire. So it came as a great surprise to me when I learned a student organization at Miami would be investigating professors who are allegedly making discriminatory comments in the classroom. Unfortunately, all of our civil liberties, as stated in the U.S. Constitution, cannot be fully exercised inside the red brick walls of buildings like Upham and Harrison.
Last week, Miami Students for Israel (MSI), a pro-Israel advocacy student organization, requested $50 from Associated Student Government (ASG) for multiple tape recorders intended to monitor professors who are suspected of making anti-Israel remarks.
The Standing Rules for the Committee on Student Organization Funding stipulate student organizations who apply for funds during the third cycle are allowed to do so for Administrative and Capital requests. MSI's request was a Capital request. ASG's Standing Rules state requests "must be deemed a necessity to the student organization and will enhance the organization's ability to effectively carry out its mission while serving the Miami student population in a greater capacity." So, let's get this straight: a tape recorder to record professors should be funded because it is a necessity to MSI and recording professors will enhance MSI's ability to carry out their mission? I don't follow, and neither should you.
According to Article II of MSI's bylaws, the group's four-point mission is essentially promoting discussion and activities focused on Israel, coordinating activities about Israel, promoting travel to Israel and deepening the understanding of Israel and Middle East issues. I personally don't see how recording professors who some say are anti-Israel enhances MSI's ability to carry out its mission.
While some may believe this issue does not affect them since they are not a professor or a member of MSI, the truth of the matter is that all Miami students are involved. The money ASG allocates to student organizations comes mainly from the student fee portion of the General Fee Budget, which amounted to $951,000 for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Basically, each undergraduate student at the Oxford campus pays $58, which goes to the "Student Organizations" expenditure on our student fee. Therefore, every Miami student is connected to this issue through the student fee. While their contribution is mere fractions of pennies, it is still our money regardless of the amount. Additionally, ASG's Funding Committee, in an effort to better allocate student fee dollars and utilize university tools, has denied requests for items provided for by the university. For example, ASG has denied funding to organizations requesting video cameras because King Library has rentable video cameras for Miami students. I recently contacted the Instructional Materials Center (IMC) who said they had six tape recorders at that time - all of which were rentable for three-week periods. It seems to me that MSI can go elsewhere for the tape recorders and not involve the entire student body.
Due to events such as the Holocaust and the Arab-Israeli conflict, the status of Israel has always been a sensitive topic in the classroom. Professors are given the liberty to choose academic sources that will aid them in teaching the course and assist in students' learning while maintaining fair and unbiased teaching methods.
According to Leo Nayfeld, MSI's president, certain professors have used books as academic sources authored by members of questionable organizations, such as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). I am currently taking a class where we utilize a book of primary sources that is host to numerous controversial figures like Sayyid Qutb - a political Islamist whose writings are exploited by none other than Osama bin Laden. Identifying merits and demerits and analyzing a wide array of academic works, whether they are from Mahatma Gandhi or Joseph Stalin is advantageous for all students and enhances their critical thinking skills and forces students to understand various contexts - two of the four points of the Miami Plan.
The presence of a device meant to monitor a professor's remarks carries the potential to not only render students reticent but also to hurt the professor's ability to teach effectively. Nayfeld said the method of using a tape recorder in classes at Miami is "a defensive measure as well as a proactive measure." He added, "Hopefully it will enhance the learning experience of anyone who is taking the class."
I can't speak on behalf of Miami professors, but I feel if I was teaching a class and a student requested to record my class, and I knew I was being monitored for anti-Israel remarks, my classroom environment would suffer greatly. I would be more focused on watching my words like a presidential candidate does during a campaign rather than focusing on the academic progress and learning of my students. Employing a tape recorder with the intent to monitor discriminatory remarks should not be the function of a student organization. Rather, the administration and appropriate offices should make serious efforts to investigate and act accordingly, free of any conflicts of interest.
Do not misconstrue this column to be anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli policy or anti-Miami Students for Israel. I merely want to communicate this case to the Miami community and elucidate my opinions on what I feel is best for Miami, the students, the faculty and the staff. I must remind the members of MSI who feel their professors are anti-Israel that being critical of Israel and its policies does not equate to being anti-Israel. I applaud MSI's assertive actions, and I believe professors who make discriminatory remarks should be investigated and receive a lawful outcome. However, MSI should keep this issue internal, continue upholding their mission, leave the student body out of this issue and deal with the Office of Equity and Equal Opportunity to resolve potential conflicts.
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Our freedom of speech is protected in the First Amendment but within the red brick walls of the buildings here on Miami's campus, not all modes of speech are appropriate.
And when lewd, discriminatory claims are officially made, the university - not groups funded by the entire student body acting outside its mission - must take proper and instantaneous action to protect students and protect the honor and integrity of Miami University.
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