Lehigh University Faculty Resolution:
WHEREAS the preservation of civil rights and liberties is essential to the well-being of a democratic society and an academic community;
WHEREAS the preservation of academic freedom and open debate is essential to the well-being of the academic community;
WHEREAS Lehigh University has a diverse population, including many foreign faculty, staff and students, whose contributions are vital to the culture, character, and learning environments of our University;
WHEREAS government security measures that undermine fundamental rights do damage to the institutions of academia and values that the faculty of Lehigh University hold dear;
WHEREAS the faculty of Lehigh University recognize the responsibility of law enforcement to protect citizens from terrorism;
WHEREAS the faculty of Lehigh University believe that there is no inherent conflict between national security and the preservation of liberty –we can be both safe and free;
WHEREAS federal, state, and local governments as well as University Administration should protect public safety without impairing constitutional rights or infringing on civil liberties;
We THEREFORE view the passage and implementation of the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-56) and associated Federal legislation and directives as threatening these fundamental liberties, in the following ways:
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Federal authorities could enlist campus police forces to monitor political and religious activities on campus; to investigate student, faculty and staff backgrounds and activities; and under the guise of terrorism investigation, to search rooms and offices without notification to the suspects.
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Law enforcement has been given expanded authority to obtain library records and to forbid libraries from informing patrons of monitoring information requests. Schools and libraries are required to turn over borrowing and sales records on individuals to the FBI or other law enforcement agencies without reporting that they have done so.
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Federal authorities could instruct campus authorities to turn over email and internet communications records, and campus authorities would be obliged to do so without notifying students, staff or faculty.
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Since September 11, there are indications that the government, with the involvement of academic institutions, has instituted policies that hinder or suppress research and writing on certain topics in “the interest of national security.”
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Colleges and universities are now required to compile records for all international students and enter them into a USICS data bank. All non-citizen men over the age of sixteen from a specific list of mainly Arab and Muslim nations are required to participate in special registration with the USICS. Some of those who have so registered have been arrested without specific warrant, held without access to a lawyer and/or deported without the right to a hearing. Students from some countries have been denied visas to return to school after visits home.
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The cumulative effect of the USA PATRIOT Act and other elements of the “war on terrorism” may violate the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by establishing military tribunals, and by subjecting citizens and non-citizens to indefinite detention without being allowed an attorney, without being brought to trial and without being charged with a crime. These measures may also violate the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution through the expansion of the government’s ability to wiretap telephones, monitor e-mail communications, survey medical, financial and student records, and secretly enter homes and offices without customary administrative oversight or without showing probable cause.
These provisions remove necessary protections against the violation of fundamental civil liberties. During times characterized by a public climate of fear, they therefore invite the abuse of government authority. Knowing the historical precedents of these behaviors, we believe it is imperative that colleges and universities take a clear stand against such abuses.
THEREFORE be it resolved that we the faculty of Lehigh University call upon the University Administration, elected officials in Bethlehem and other municipalities, our elected representatives in the federal government, and 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, and to resist vigilantly all attempts to do so.
Specifically, with respect to Lehigh University, we
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AFFIRM our strong support for the rights of all faculty, students, and employees and oppose measures that single out individuals for legal scrutiny or enforcement activity based on their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age or country of origin.
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CALL UPON the appropriate University offices or administrators to provide, no less than once every semester, an accounting of all students, faculty and staff who have been unable to enter the US and/or assume their studies or teaching functions due to denial of visas.
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CALL UPON the appropriate University offices or administrators to provide, no less than once every year, an accounting of all faculty and student research and publications which have been suppressed or otherwise restricted due to federal concern for security or political reasons.
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CALL UPON the appropriate University offices or administrators to implement measures consistent with this resolution which will alert and inform members of the University community about the USA PATRIOT Act and which will reflect the University’s vigilant protection of the Constitutional rights, civil liberties, and rights to privacy of its community members.
Specifically, we recommend that the administration:
a) post signs in the University’s libraries, bookstore, computer labs, and other appropriate locations alerting University community members about relevant provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that may permit the inspection of records or the obtaining of personal information by federal law enforcement agents;
b) avoid and prohibit discriminatory, illegal, or improper surveillance, investigation, apprehension, or detention of individuals based upon race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, or other protected personal characteristics or based upon political, religious, or social views, associations, or activities, unless there are legally established grounds to act because such a person is involved in criminal conduct;
c) secure records pertaining to individuals or limit the retention
of such records in order to protect, in a lawful manner, the privacy
of such records from improper examination in violation of the Constitutional
rights or privacy rights of University community members.