To the editor:

Kansas University Provost David Shulenburger is to be commended for the professionalism, intelligence, thoroughness and fairness of his public report concerning Sen. Susan Wagle’s complaint against professor Dennis Dailey.

Preserving the freedom of KU faculty to address the most sensitive and controversial topics is essential to academic excellence and a free society. The public’s memory is short, but Kansas was born in the midst of some of the most heated and violent discussions our nation has ever experienced. One need only reflect upon the 19th-century conflicts between residents of Lecompton and Lawrence to appreciate how essential it is to contest unpopular legislative decisions. KU faculty have played a central role in Kansas’ long history of heated debates, from abolition and women’s suffrage to Prohibition and civil rights. It would be a terrible mistake for the Legislature to restrict open discussion of any topic, no matter how difficult or unpopular it may be.

The 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education that ended school segregation in the United States is emblematic of how heated local issues can affect national legislation. Our nation is stronger because of the critical role that KU has played in protecting and fostering the free exchange of ideas, especially when this goes directly against the opinions of publicly elected officials. One glance at the Journal-World’s John Brown Jayhawk should be enough to remind us of our heritage and our responsibility to preserve this freedom. This is what “Ad astra per aspera” means.

John Hoopes,

Lawrence