More than 670 professors at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill are lobbying state lawmakers to oppose a pair of bills that, among other things, would require college students to take a course learning about the founding of the United States.
The North Carolina state legislature is currently considering two bills that would require college and university students to take a course about the nation’s founding, including reading texts like the Consitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Gettysburg Address.
In an open letter, 673 faculty and staff from UNC-Chapel Hill urge state lawmakers to vote down both bills in the name of “academic freedom.”
“We, the undersigned UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, are alarmed by the interference and overreach of the North Carolina legislature, the UNC System Board of Governors, and the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees whose actions violate the principles of academic freedom and shared governance that undergird higher education in N.C. and the U.S.,” the professors write:
If enacted, we believe that these measures will further damage the reputation of UNC and the state of North Carolina and will likely bring critical scrutiny from accrediting agencies that know undue interference in university affairs when they see it. [Emphasis added]
…
Instead of heeding this warning, our leaders continue to disregard campus autonomy, attack the expertise and independence of world-class faculty, and seek to force students’ educations into pre-approved ideological containers. We must protect the principles of academic freedom and shared governance which have long made UNC a leader in public education.
[Emphasis added]
Republicans hold majorities in the North Carolina legislature, while Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper (D) is term-limited and will serve his last year in 2024.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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