University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Presented by David M. Littig

Chancellor Shepard, university administrators, colleagues, students, members of the university community, and guests, thank you for coming to the unveiling of the "Sifting and Winnowing" plaque as a significant event in the inauguration of Bruce Shepard as the fourth Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

This event celebrating the university's commitment to academic freedom would not be taking place had it not been for Chris Sampson and Ginny Dell who knew that the "Sifting and Winnowing" plaque had been in storage in Wood Hall for a number of years. They told me about it and supported the idea of the unveiling of the plaque, as well as the University Committee. I would also like to thank Dean Rodeheaver and Shane Kohl for helping select an appropriate site for the plaque and having it mounted.

The story of the "Sifting and Winnowing" plaque is one, which embodies its message. In June of 1894, Oliver Wells, Wisconsin's state superintendent of public education and ex-officio member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents attacked UW political economist professor Richard T. Ely in a 500-word letter to the editor of The Nation. Wells accused Ely of fomenting strikes, practicing boycotts, and supporting labor unions. Wells called Ely a socialist and that he taught these principles in the classroom and incorporated them in his scholarly writings.

At the July meeting of the Board of Regents a committee was appointed to conduct an inquiry into the charges leveled against Ely and recommend a course of action. Three days of hearings began on August 20, 1894. Wells was asked to appear and present evidence in support of his charges. On the evening before his scheduled appearance, he notified the committee that he would not be able to attend because he had been called out of town on business. Furthermore, he said his presence would not be needed until the committee decided to change its procedures to include Ely's books as evidence. When finally Wells did appear before the committee, his key witness testified that Ely had not threatened to withdraw his own printing from the firm if it expelled the union, but that Ely had said that the executive board of the Christian Social Union, of which Ely was the secretary, might require that he withdraw the Union's printing.

The trial of professor Ely drew much national attention. At the final hearing, many communications supporting Ely were read, including one from Brown University President Benjamin Andrews who advised the regents that if they removed Ely from his university position that it would be "a great blow to freedom of university teaching."

The Board of Regents decision was to completely vindicate professor Ely and the famous "sifting and winnowing" statement, the regents commitment of academic freedom, appeared in their final report.

"Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found."

But that is not the end of the story. In 1910 UW sociology professor Edward Ross was accused of consorting with an anarchist and of giving a speaking platform to a man who promoted immorality. On this occasion the regents approved a statement of censure against Ross and suggested that he be dismissed. UW President Van Hise defended Ross and the regents dropped the case. The students of the class of 1910, fearing that academic freedom was again in jeopardy, decided to have the sifting and winnowing statement cast into bronze and present it to the university as a class gift.

The Board of Regents declined the gift and the plaque was relegated to the dark basement of Bascom Hall on the Madison campus to gather dust. It was only after intense pressure by students that the plaque was rescued from obscurity, and formally accepted by the university and affixed to the entrance of Bascom Hall in 1915.

What is the basic concept of academic freedom that emerged from the trial of professor Ely? First, it protects the freedom of faculty to teach, in whatever manner faculty chooses, about the subjects of their expertise even if those teachings run counter to popular belief. Second, it protects the freedom of scholars and scientists to pursue untrammeled inquiry and publish the results without fear of institutional or public censorship. Third, it protects the faculty to speak out on public issues without fear of official retaliation. Academic freedom protects the freedom of all members of the university community to learn and seek the truth wherever it may lie and whatever the consequences. Academic freedom rests at the core of the student learning experience-in the classroom, with professors, on research projects, and in students' midnight bull sessions. Sifting and winnowing enables students to challenge classroom theories, to integrate ideas from various disciplines, to defend and develop their own informed intellectual position on issues in a safe and supportive university environment.

How did the faithful bronze replica of the plaque makes its way to UW-Green Bay? In 1964, Kenneth Greenquist, a member of the Board of Regents, believed that every two-year campus of the University of Wisconsin system should display replicas of the plaque. It was thus given to the two-year UW-Green Bay Center on Deckner Avenue and remained there until it was moved to the new four-year UW-Green Bay campus. It was kept in storage in Wood Hall until now.

We don't need to look to the past for threats to academic freedom. Challenges to academic freedom can come from within the university as well as from without. This summer a lawsuit was filed to stop the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill summer reading program from having its freshmen class and transfer students read and be prepared to discuss Michael Sills' book, Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations.

The attorney for the plaintiffs argued that the university's purpose in selecting the book was to teach students a favorable view of Islam and that the program communicates the university's endorsement of that view. The university attorneys argued that the program has no religious purpose and that the book presents a balanced view of the Qur'an.

In response to political pressure, the North Carolina House Appropriations Committee voted to block funding for religious courses in the UNC System that do not include all religions in the curriculum. In addition, the UNC Board of Governors failed to win the board's required two-thirds majority to support a resolution affirming academic freedom in the state's universities. On August 15 a federal judge ruled that the reading program could proceed as planned despite the lawsuit. This decision has been appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

It is in the face of adversity that a university's commitment to academic freedom is tested. On August 18 the freshman class and transfer students at Chapel Hill began discussing the Qur'an. With this decision by the university, the intellectual vitality and creative energies of universities throughout the country were replenished by "that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found."

Chancellor Shepard, at this time, would you like to say a few words? After, weather permitting, I would like you to unveil the plaque.