A public statement opposing legislation mandating that college students take classes on the US government and founding documents were signed by hundreds of the University of North Carolina academics on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the 673 faculty members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill made their public letter available to the public.
US Constitution, Declaration of Independence
In the letter, they state that the new courses and another bill pending in the North Carolina House of Representatives would violate the academic freedom of the institution.
The first piece of legislation, House Bill 96, calls for making a three-credit course on the founding and early history of the United States required of all students.
The Federalist Papers, at least five essays, the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Both ‘ A Speech Delivered at Gettysburg’ and ‘Letter from Birmingham Prison’ written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would be required reading for the course.
The legislation, in the opinion of the teachers, breaches fundamental academic freedom values and replaces faculty intellectual knowledge with ideological force-feeding.
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Controversial H.B. 715 Aims to Abolish UNC Tenure
The notion of tenure would be eliminated at the University of North Carolina and any connected colleges under the second piece of legislation, H.B. 715.
Additionally, it would require universities to disclose all non-instructional research conducted by staff members of the institution’s higher education division.
The reading assignments for the class will require students to study Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “A Speech Given at Gettysburg” as well as “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
They have called for the cancellation of both bills. In March, the House of Representatives of North Carolina voted in favor of House Bill 96, and the Senate of North Carolina is currently considering whether or not to adopt it.
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