UW-M chancellor defends Cronon, says they found NO "improper uses of state or university resources"

[highplainsdem]

I believe this sort of public statement is equivalent to a press release, so I'll quote it in its entirety:

http://www.news.wisc.edu/19190

Chancellor’s message on academic freedom and open records

April 1, 2011


Members of the campus community,

Two weeks ago UW-Madison received an open records request from Stephan Thompson, deputy executive director of the state's Republican Party, for email records of Professor Bill Cronon.

Professor Cronon is the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas Research Professor of History, Geography and Environmental Studies at UW-Madison. He is one of the university's most celebrated and respected scholars, teachers, mentors and citizens. I am proud to call him a colleague.

The implications of this case go beyond Bill Cronon. When Mr. Thompson made his request, he was exercising his right under Wisconsin's public records law both to make such a request and to make it without stating his motive. Neither the request nor the absence of a stated motive seemed particularly unusual. We frequently receive public records requests with apparently political motives, from both the left and the right, and every position in between. I announced that the university would comply with the law and, as we do in all cases, apply the kind of balancing test that the law allows, taking such things as the rights to privacy and free expression into account. We have done that analysis and will release the records later today that we believe are in compliance with state law.

We are excluding records involving students because they are protected under FERPA. We are excluding exchanges that fall outside the realm of the faculty member's job responsibilities and that could be considered personal pursuant to Wisconsin Supreme Court case law. We are also excluding what we consider to be the private email exchanges among scholars that fall within the orbit of academic freedom and all that is entailed by it. Academic freedom is the freedom to pursue knowledge and develop lines of argument without fear of reprisal for controversial findings and without the premature disclosure of those ideas.

Scholars and scientists pursue knowledge by way of open intellectual exchange. Without a zone of privacy within which to conduct and protect their work, scholars would not be able to produce new knowledge or make life-enhancing discoveries. Lively, even heated and acrimonious debates over policy, campus and otherwise, as well as more narrowly defined disciplinary matters are essential elements of an intellectual environment and such debates are the very definition of the Wisconsin Idea.

When faculty members use email or any other medium to develop and share their thoughts with one another, they must be able to assume a right to the privacy of those exchanges, barring violations of state law or university policy. Having every exchange of ideas subject to public exposure puts academic freedom in peril and threatens the processes by which knowledge is created. The consequence for our state will be the loss of the most talented and creative faculty who will choose to leave for universities where collegial exchange and the development of ideas can be undertaken without fear of premature exposure or reprisal for unpopular positions.

This does not mean that scholars can be irresponsible in the use of state and university resources or the exercise of academic freedom. We have dutifully reviewed Professor Cronon's records for any legal or policy violations, such as improper uses of state or university resources for partisan political activity. There are none.

To our faculty, I say: Continue to ask difficult questions, explore unpopular lines of thought and exercise your academic freedom, regardless of your point of view. As always, we will take our cue from the bronze plaque on the walls of Bascom Hall. It calls for the "continual and fearless sifting and winnowing" of ideas. It is our tradition, our defining value, and the way to a better society.

Chancellor Biddy Martin

Emphasis added.

I knew there wouldn't be any improper uses of state or university resources, of course. Professor Cronon made it clear that there weren't.

But now the university's chancellor has also made it clear that the WI GOP won't have anything it can use against Cronon after this fishing expedition.

[Bozita]

1. Just another GOPer fishing expedition ... without fish!

[Kber]

2. Rec'd but this was never about Cronon

It's about the lesser known professors who are still making a name for themselves and the chilling effect this could have on their careers should their research run afoul of the thought police.

I'm glad the University has stood behind Cronon and I hope they will do the same for the rest of their academic staff.

Thanks for posting.

[gratuitous]

3. Yeah, the witch hunt has probably served its purpose

I wonder how much time and money the university had to waste to figure out that Cronon didn't waste any of the university's time and money? And will the yammerers who caused that waste step up to the plate and pay?

:rofl:

I crack me up.

[malaise]

4. K & R

Expect Walker to attack the Chancellor

[highplainsdem]

5. Cronon has posted the chancellor's statement and the UW lawyer's letter to the GOP on his blog:

http://scholarcitizen.williamcronon.net/2011/04/01/uw-madison-balancing-test/

[damntexdem]

6. Well, they won't have anything improper or illegal.

But they can use anything and everything against Cronon, especially after quoting out of context and putting their own interpretations on things -- i.e., lying.