Appalachian State University Faculty Senate ResolutionResolution in Defense of Academic Freedoms and the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution
Whereas, Appalachian State University is proud of its tradition of protecting academic freedoms and the civil liberties of its students, faculty, and staff;
Whereas, the preservation of academic freedoms and civil liberties is essential to the well-being of a university and those who study and work there;
Whereas, federal, state, and local governments should protect the public from terrorist attacks such as those that occurred on September 11, 2001, but should do so in a rational and deliberative fashion to ensure that any new security measure enhances public safety without unnecessarily impairing academic freedoms or infringing on civil liberties;
Whereas, government security measures that undermine such fundamental rights do damage to the American institutions and values that the students, faculty, and staff of Appalachian State University hold dear;
Whereas, the Faculty Senate of Appalachian State University believes that there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty - Americans can be both safe and free;
Whereas, several laws recently enacted at the Federal level, including sections of the USA PATRIOT Act, now threaten academic freedoms and civil liberties , such as:
$ Freedom of speech, religion, assembly, privacy, and protection from unreasonable search and seizures of our students, faculty, and staff (by allowing government access to medical, financial, library, educational, and other personal records, government taps of phones and monitoring of Internet use, and government access to residences and personal property, all without probable cause of criminal activity), all guaranteed by the Constitution of the North Carolina, and the United States Constitution and its Bill of Rights;
Whereas, there is already bi-partisan agreement in and out of Congress that some provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act threaten civil liberties;
Whereas, more than 200 towns and counties have already passed resolutions reaffirming their commitment to civil liberties and against the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that threaten civil liberties;
Whereas, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has recently held that the USA PATRIOT Act threatens academic freedoms and civil liberties and has encouraged university faculty to support measures in Congress that would mitigate the effects of the USA PATRIOT Act ; and
Whereas, the Student Government Association (SGA) of Appalachian State University has recently passed a resolution against the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that threaten civil liberties;
Therefore, we the Faculty Senate of the Appalachian State University, acting in the spirit and history of our institution, do hereby request that:
1) Local and campus law enforcement agencies continue to preserve freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and privacy, and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, even if requested or authorized to infringe upon these rights by federal law enforcement acting under new powers granted by the USA PATRIOT Act;
2) Federal and state law enforcement officials acting with the University work in accordance with the policies of the Appalachian State University Police Department, and in cooperation with the Department, by not engaging in racial or ethnic profiling in law enforcement;
3) The U.S. Attorney's Office, the Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and North Carolina state police agencies report to officials of the University regularly and publicly, to the degree permissible under law, the extent to and manner in which they have acted under the USA PATRIOT Act, including disclosing the names of any university student, faculty, and staff detainees held in western North Carolina or any such individuals detained elsewhere; and
4) Our United States Congressman and Senators monitor the implementation of the Act and actively work for the repeal of the parts of that Act that violate fundamental freedoms and liberties as stated in the Constitutions of North Carolina and the United States;
5) The Secretary of the Faculty Senate transmit a copy of this resolution to appropriate University officials, Governor Easley, and appropriate members of the State Legislature, accompanied by a letter urging them to ensure that state anti-terrorism laws and policies be implemented in a manner that does not infringe on academic freedoms and civil liberties as described in this resolution; and be it
Resolved that the provisions of this Resolution shall be severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, or provision of this Resolution is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to the Constitution of the United States or of the State of North Carolina or the applicability thereof to any agency, person, or circumstances is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Resolution and the applicability thereof to any other agency, person or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.