Yeah, its me chalking safs.ca around town.... a last stab at liberating minds here..
Some of us will still prefer to take "free speech" and "freedom of association" over the alternative of the 'community' who are prone to stifling others... sad, stuffy places are those the "progressives" will call "safe spaces" and as its a university town lively debate is essential .. its the lifeblood... energetic dissident discourse must be allowed to take place ... if not here... where?
I'm an outsider to the 'campus' culture but I have lived here since 2010. I also remember talking to people on the picket lines when the academics were on strike for 'academic freedom' a while ago .. every day with my dog in the cold winter I would drop by and chat with these academics.. there was this concern among them.. it was the reason for the strike .. not money but about academic freedom.
Keep up that important quest... for freedom.. never forget its what makes the west unique and makes life here so much better than many places on the globe.
I listened.. some of them were more easy to speak with .. some were afraid. I witnessed that.. and I understand this culture of shut up very well .. that's why I am here doing this .. this seems to be a good thing to promote for all that are here.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/safs.ca/
SAFS - Society for Academic Freedom & Scholarship.. http://safs.ca
Formed in 1992, SAFS is:
- Primarily concerned with institutions of higher learning in Canada.
- A non-profit organization financed by membership fees and voluntary contributions.
- Not aligned with any political party -- our membership spans the political spectrum.
- A society with members all across Canada and in other countries.
- Open to all persons sharing our goals, whether or not they are working in a university. Goals:
- Maintaining freedom in teaching, research, and scholarship. In pursuit of their scholarly goals, members of the university may take positions that are not in accord with popular beliefs. We oppose measures such as speech codes, extra-legal tribunals and so-called anti-hate legislation that may infringe on the right and responsibility of the academic community (faculty and students) to teach and do research on controversial subjects.
- Maintaining standards of excellence in academic decisions about students and faculty.
- Many universities have policies that are discriminatory to the extent that they favour groups of students or faculty on the basis of race, sex, etc. Such preferential treatment is unfair, is damaging to academic excellence, and stigmatizes the very groups so favoured. We espouse equality of opportunity but oppose preferential treatment.
Activities:
- Promoting reasoned debate on issues of academic freedom and scholarship.
- Speaking out publicly in favour of SAFS' aims, and against oppressive measures in the academic community.
- Keeping SAFS' members abreast of developments through newsletters, chapter meetings, conferences and other means.
- Encouraging the formation of local chapters to achieve SAFS' aims locally.
- Supporting candidates who share SAFS' goals for positions on university governing bodies.
- Writing to university administrations where we feel that academic freedom or the merit principle have been compromised.
- Writing to government agencies or, where appropriate, to politicians, in cases where we feel our principles are in jeopardy.
- Supporting individuals with advice, moral support, or material aid in those cases where there has been a clear abuse of academic freedom and/or the merit principle.
- Distributing information to the media.
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