Faculty passes Patriot Act resolution without dissent
Ben Veghte
Issue date: 2/12/04 Section: News
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In an attempt to assert their civil liberties that were granted to them by the Constitution, the faculty of the College passed without dissent in January, a resolution condemning the Patriot Act.
Because the Patriot Act is quite a lengthy document, Anna Adams, Associate Professor of History, explained that their resolution is not concerned with all the different points that fall under its umbrella. "Our resolution speaks to problems that affect a college campus," Adams stated.
More specifically, the faculty are concerned with the way in which the Patriot Act infringes on library records, research by professors, decisions on when and where to hold public rallies and protests and stricter limitations on international students at the College.
In addition to listing the ways in which the Patriot Act allegedly infringes upon basic civil liberties, the resolution calls on members of the greater Lehigh Valley area to join their efforts of denouncing the Act.
The faculty resolution states specifically that they call on "the administration of the College, the mayor and police of Allentown and the leaders of other institutions of higher learning in the Lehigh Valley to work together to ensure that governmental actions against terrorism do not violate the Constitution and do not compromise individual liberties, research, education and academic freedom."
Adams stated that the Bill of Rights Defense Committee contacted her at the beginning of the fall semester about a possible resolution by the College's faculty.
In addition to Adams, Peter Bredlau, College Chaplain and Lisa Perfetti, Assistant Professor of French were the original proponents of the resolution before the idea was introduced to the rest of the faculty. "After speaking amongst each other [Adams, Bredlau, and Perfetti] we introduced the idea during the Nov. faculty meeting and asked if there was any interest," Adams stated.
After finally voting and passing the resolution in January, the faculty of the College joined Stanford University, California State University and Appalachian State University as the only four college faculties in the nation to draw up resolutions.
Because the Patriot Act is quite a lengthy document, Anna Adams, Associate Professor of History, explained that their resolution is not concerned with all the different points that fall under its umbrella. "Our resolution speaks to problems that affect a college campus," Adams stated.
More specifically, the faculty are concerned with the way in which the Patriot Act infringes on library records, research by professors, decisions on when and where to hold public rallies and protests and stricter limitations on international students at the College.
In addition to listing the ways in which the Patriot Act allegedly infringes upon basic civil liberties, the resolution calls on members of the greater Lehigh Valley area to join their efforts of denouncing the Act.
The faculty resolution states specifically that they call on "the administration of the College, the mayor and police of Allentown and the leaders of other institutions of higher learning in the Lehigh Valley to work together to ensure that governmental actions against terrorism do not violate the Constitution and do not compromise individual liberties, research, education and academic freedom."
Adams stated that the Bill of Rights Defense Committee contacted her at the beginning of the fall semester about a possible resolution by the College's faculty.
In addition to Adams, Peter Bredlau, College Chaplain and Lisa Perfetti, Assistant Professor of French were the original proponents of the resolution before the idea was introduced to the rest of the faculty. "After speaking amongst each other [Adams, Bredlau, and Perfetti] we introduced the idea during the Nov. faculty meeting and asked if there was any interest," Adams stated.
After finally voting and passing the resolution in January, the faculty of the College joined Stanford University, California State University and Appalachian State University as the only four college faculties in the nation to draw up resolutions.