“Academic Freedom and Accreditation on Faith-Based Campuses” – Richard Osborn
Date: November 14, 2009
Speaker: Dr. Richard Osborn
Position: Associate Director, Western Association of Schools & Colleges Accrediting
Commission
Topic: “Academic Freedom and Accreditation on Faith-Based Campuses”
Venue: Biology Amphitheater
Attendance: 63
Presentation: Osborn provided a historic context for current tensions as SDA colleges & universities balance 3 components: accreditation demands, academic freedom, & the 28 Fundamental Beliefs. He cited a recent Creation/Flood poll from EducateTruth.com, (& respondents’ blogs), a November 2009 petition to LSU’s board, letters (K. J. Reynolds, Richard Hammill, Joseph Smoot) , apt quotations by E. G. White & Loughborough), and insightful documents by PUC Religion professors (1977), the AAUP’s 1940 Statement, and the GC Annual Council 1984 Statement on Academic Freedom to show that these three components will likely always be in tension and that this is healthy in academia.
Michiana Adventist Forum 