Letter to the Editor of the SF Chronicle

We write to express our concern over recent reports in the San Francisco Chronicle dealing with the Academy of Art’s expulsion of a student who wrote a controversial short story, its firing of the student’s writing instructor, and its response to attempts by other faculty members and students to discuss the important questions raised by the school’s actions. (A Work of Art or a Harbinger of Violence?, March 25, 2004; Class Takes to Street to Protest Censorship, April 8, 4004). It now appears that at least one other student may also have been expelled when she refused to self-censor her short stories.

Academic freedom is as important an issue at private educational institutions as it is at public universities; it is a matter of particular concern at an institution like the Academy of Art, whose most basic mission is to nurture creative thought and expression. Concerns about student welfare are, of course, legitimate. However, those concerns must be addressed in a manner that neither punishes creative expression nor orders that it cease. Moreover, discussion and debate over the issues must be encouraged, not suppressed. We are disappointed that the Academy seems unwilling to allow critical discussion of the difficult issues presented here, including criticism of the Academy’s decision not to rehire one of the student’s writing instructors. The traditions that underlie artistic expression seem to have been abandoned and the Academy seems to have lost sight of its mission. It needs to rethink its approach to controversial writing and it needs to allow its faculty and students to engage in meaningful discussion of these issues, even when that discussion takes the form of dissent.

Dorothy M. Ehrlich
Executive Director of the ACLU of Northern California