Nearly 700 professors at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have signed a letter opposing legislation that would require students to take courses on America’s founding documents.
673 professors at UNC Chapel Hill called proposed bills “overreach” that “violate[s] the principles of academic freedom” in a letter authored by History Professor Jay M. Smith and Law Professor Maxine Eichner.
North Carolina HB715 would eliminate faculty tenure, and replace it with one to four-year contracts, and HB96 seeks to require college students to take at least 3 credits of an American Government and History course to earn a diploma. Students would be required to read founding documents such as the Constitution of the United States of America, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Federalist Papers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, and the Gettysburg Address.
Earlier this year, the Board of Governors (BoG) at UNC Chapel Hill eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) declarations — a move the 673 professors called an “attack” that “violate[s] the First Amendment and interfere[s] with the unfettered pursuit of truth and enlightenment.” The BoG, however, said they were excluding the DEI statements from hiring and admissions standards citing concerns regarding “compelled speech.”
“Requiring a statement from an employee or applicant for academic admission or employment to demonstrate an ideological commitment cuts against the constitutional rights afforded within the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
General Counsel to the UNC System Andrew Tripp — Campus Reform
The letter continues by accusing the BoG and state legislators of “continu[ing] to disregard campus autonomy, attack the expertise and independence of world-class faculty, and seek to force students’ educations into pre-approved ideological containers.”
Smith, who co-authored the letter, lamented that if the legislation were to pass, removing tenure protection for professors for “no good reason,” would halt all discussion surrounding “reproductive health care and climate change” in the classroom.
Another professor who signed the opposition letter claimed, “They want UNC to be a whiter campus, both at the faculty level and ultimately among the student body.”
All 673 professors and UNC-Chapel Hill faculty have been added to Turning Point USA’s Professor Watchlist.
This piece originally appeared on TPUSA.
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It should be a yearly requirement
IT should be mandated PERIOD.. Especially since they receive both STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS iirc..
Those 673 professors at UNC Chapel Hill who called proposed bills “overreach” that “violate[s] the principles of academic freedom” should be the first forced to pass the grade or lose their tenure. Academic freedom begins with BOTH sides of the argument being addressed with only unindoctrinated human minds trained to be able to see which side and approach is and has historically proven to be the most successful. Quality time served in THE CHAPEL of their Christian founded university would prove more ameliorative to their chosen anti-American prejudices than prison time for the treason they currently promote in WOKE brainwashing which to correct what has cost this country Trillions in wasted social services that promote government dependency rather than teaching individual SELF-governing principles that alone allow COLLECTIVE American Self-government to succeed.
We need legislation to require students to take courses on America’s founding ?
SINCE patriotism is shat on in schools, apparently so.
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill that teaches Psychology is a perfect university to brainwash their students into the Democrat Party’s concept of woke equity and socialism.
The 700 professors at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill DO NOT want their students to learn about the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights. The students will know of the unconstitutional and unlawful tactics of treasonous this treasonous, destructive, unethical, lying, woke, socialist Democrat Party and their disciples.
tar and feather the tarheel indoctrination teachers.
Since Nickki haley is gov there now, she should perhaps tell UNC Chapple hill, to MOVE TO A more socialist/communist nation, if they all hate our nation and founding documents so bloody much.
Last I read, she was a former governor of SOUTH Carolina, as well as a former Ambassador to the UN and a current 2024 Presidential candidate. While your sentiments may be appropriate, accuracy is critical.
Remembered it was ONE of the carolinas..
BUT the same sentiment goes to the governor/senator FROM NORTH carolina!
My required reading list would comprise the following in this exact order:
1.The Declaration of Independence
2.The Articles of Confederation
3.The US Constitution
4.The Federalist Papers
5.The Anti-Federalist Papers
6.George Washington’s Farewell Address
7.The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
After reading each in their entirety students would be required to submit a minimum 10 page essay on the author(s) background, original audience and the original intent as it would have been understood by the original audience. A seperate essay would be required if the student had any suggested changes with full documentation of the benefits and disadvantages any such changes would produce. Minimum passing grade would be say 85% and said essays would be graded by an independent panel of at least three judges all with historical expertise in the above documents.
My bet is that at the most one out of every twenty students would flunk-especially given the current status of our educational system.
You are too kind. I predict no more than one in 50..
Any home educated students would be able to pass with flying colors. They are the hope for our country’s future.
They are objecting to the part about tenure. Most aren’t really capable enough to keep their jobs without it
This is so laughable since back in the sixties you couldn’t leave the sixth grade without passing a Civics class which included these documents. I guess that I attended school when education was actually the highest priority.
These days its wokenness that’s replaced patriotism in schools.
I was drafted into the Army in 1968 and thankfully ended up in South Korea instead of Vietnam. I wasn’t all that happy about the “experience”, but seeing how our country has degraded in the past 50 plus years I’ve come to the conclusion that our country needs a 2 year mandatory service, either military or civil. Only those so physically or mentally handicapped would be excluded. Anyone wishing to immigrate to America would also be required to serve.
These days, that kind of cancels out a hell of a lot of society, judging by how obese we are as a nation!
I had no idea the faculty of this school were so liberal. In contrast, a few years ago the legislators of North Dakota made it a requirement that all high school seniors take and pass the US citizenship test in order to receive a diploma. They believe that the only way to turn out good citizens is for the young people to understand the governmental systems.