On January 31st, members of the anarchist group “Decolonize This Place” protested the fare increases of the city transit system by rampaging through the subways. The protesters destroyed turnstiles, vandalized station walls, and voiced their frustration through chants. Thirteen people were arrested and over $100,000 of damages were caused.
One of the co-founders of “Decolonize This Place” is NYU Adjunct Professor Amin Husain. Husain, a professor in NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, has worked at the university since 2014, every year in the adjunct capacity. Following the protest, members of NYU’s Republican Club went on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” to call for Husain’s firing. The NYU students cited an “unbalanced bias” toward liberal thought on NYU’s campus. Despite their efforts, as of the publication of this article, he is still a faculty member of the school.
The protest is yet another example of the relationship between academic freedom and free speech. Are the two interchangeable? In analyzing the rights that Husain holds as a faculty member of NYU, one can’t help but recognize the role the university plays as an arbitrator of academic freedom disputes.
Free speech, in the university context, generally “restricts the right of a public institution, to regulate expression on all sorts of topics and in all sorts of settings”; academic freedom, contrastingly, “addresses rights within the educational contexts of teaching, learning, and research both in and out the classroom for individuals at both private and public institutions.” Where the rights begin and end are murky. Academic freedom and freedom of speech are distinct legal concepts and, while the courts have suggested a relationship between the two, academic freedom rights are also coextensive with free speech rights in the university context.
NYU released the following statement addressing Husain and the protest:
"The university abhors violence, rejects calls for violence...and is opposed to acts of vandalism on the public transit system, which is needed and shared by all New Yorkers. It is, however, the case that among the thousands of part-time faculty we hire each year some will disagree with NYU's positions. Such is the nature of free speech and academic freedom."
NYU is a private institution and therefore is not subject to the constitutional requirements of free speech. Most private universities have some sort of free-speech-related rights ingrained in their contracts and adopted by the institution. In NYU’s Faculty Handbook, it says that “teachers are entitled to full freedom in research and in the publication of the results.” In addition, it states that “when (faculty) speak or write as citizens, they should be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but this special position in the community imposes special obligations.” As such, Husain’s involvement in “Decolonize This Place” doesn’t seem to warrant that extraneous action be taken by the university.
The Faculty Handbook also discusses a professor's entitlement to freedom in the classroom. “Teachers” it says, “are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should not introduce into their teaching controversial matter that has no relation to their subject.” Husain teaches a workshop called “Art, Activism, and Beyond” in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, which “interrogates the relationship between art and activism” and uses movements such as Occupy Wall Street and Direct-Action Front for Palestine, as case studies. Some have argued that Husain should not be able to use his teaching platform as a way to promote his activism. However, his involvement with in “Decolonize This Place” is clearly within the realms of his course’s subject matter, and therefore would not be grounds for termination, per the university’s handbook.
The most interesting distinction in the liberties of academic freedom is between tenured and adjunct professors. At the bottom of the page in the NYU Handbook reads the following statement: “tenured/tenure track faculty members are also entitled to other protections related to tenure and academic freedom.” Tenured professors share a guarantee of long-term employment as well as enhanced grievance policies-- embedded in their contracts is a greater extension of academic freedom.
While academic freedom ranges from protection of online activity to the independence to conduct classes uniquely, the extent that academic freedom applies to university staff is still largely circumstantial. If Husain was a tenured professor, perhaps NYU wouldn't need to address Husain’s involvement in the protest at all. Due to Husain’s position as an adjunct professor, however, his liberties differ from those of his tenured colleagues. Tenured professors are free to express their ideas, however extreme or unpopular within the academic community, without the threat of termination. With Husain as an adjunct professor, NYU doesn’t have any contractual obligations to renew his employment for future years.
Considering this, NYU’s decision to retain Husain is a prime example of how a private university can openly support free speech and academic freedom. Such a decision represents a greater commitment to the diversity of thought and the denouncing of an authoritative voice in academia.