AMHERST — A resolution in support of democracy and the rights of both citizens and noncitizens in the United States, recently adopted by faculty at Amherst College, may be the first of its kind at an American institution of higher education, according to a professor who spearheaded the initiative.
Faculty at a regular meeting Oct. 24 voted 102-26 in support of the resolution that calls out escalating threats to democracy and to rights that “endanger our educational mission.”
“We join with others who are also speaking out, defending freedom, democracy, and the rights of all, regardless of their political allegiances, religious, gender and racial identities, or immigration status,” reads the resolution.
For Austin Sarat, the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence & Political Science, the resolution goes beyond other resolutions issued by faculty and comments from college and university presidents, who have largely responded only to the ongoing threats to academic freedom and institutional independence in recent months, rather than the larger picture of American democracy.
The resolution adopted by the faculty is different because it’s not just about protecting academic inquiry, but democratic values, Sarat said.
“This goes farther than the president of Amherst has gone in making statements,” Sarat said.
He and others have sent the resolution to colleagues elsewhere and to alumni.
“The hope is other faculties will see it or imitate it,” Sarat said.
When the resolution was put before the faculty, he said the room was unusually quiet and there was a level of seriousness prior to the vote.
The resolution was first drafted last spring and then by the fall 28 faculty were co-sponsoring, and it was also endorsed by the American Academy of University Professors.
“A lot of criticism is aimed at leaders for keeping their heads down in the face of threats of democracy,” Sarat said. “Groups like faculties, bar associations and labor unions can do a similar thing.”
In March, Sarat had an article published titled “If College Presidents Won’t Speak Out in Defense of Democracy and the Rule of Law, Their Faculties Should.”
In that piece, Sarat wrote, “It is time for those who teach to stand up for the rule of law, democratic institutions and the freedoms and well-being of all who reside in this country. By doing so, we can set an example for others and remind everyone that we are not the cloistered elitists our critics make us out to be. Leaving that work to college presidents may ask too much of them and demand too little of us.”
With the adopting of the resolution, Sarat said he is unsure what it will mean.
“No one knows if it will make a difference, but the general hope is it will inspire others to do likewise,” Sarat said.
“What we do know is silence will not work to preserve American democracy.”