In October 2009, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) released a report on academic freedom at Trinity Western. The report stated that TWU’s Statement of Faith, which is required to be signed by TWU professors, is in conflict with the notion of academic freedom. When referring to TWU’s official stance on academic freedom, the report stated “there is no question that Trinity Western University violates the commitment to academic freedom…”

In December, 2009, TWU President Jonathan Raymond responded to the report in a letter to the CAUT. “Such an allegation should only be made after a completely fair and careful ‘due process,’” said Raymond. “The report was not in response to any complaint or allegation of a violation of academic freedom, and thus appears arbitrary.”

A story on the report was published by MacLean’s online last week, and unleashed a storm of controversy.

In the days following the publishing of the report, MacLean’s education blogger Todd Pettigrew, Professor of English at Cape Breton University, published two blog postings. The first, published on Jan. 25, predicted the end of the religious university because “more and more people [will] feel free to evaluate traditional religion with an even hand and find that, at its heart, its claims are nonsense.” The second, published on Jan. 27, Pettigrew wrote that because of TWU’s Statement of Faith, he could not see how a student can pursue a skeptical, open-minded course of study.

Both blog postings garnered waves of response from the TWU community, whom strongly supported that academic freedom was protected at TWU. Several other posters sided with Pettigrew.

At the heart of the controversy is TWU’s rejection of relativism. As a university, TWU is committed to a biblical foundation, with “all teaching, learning, thinking, and scholarship [to] take place under the direction of the Bible, the wholly authoritative and truthful Word of God,” according to its academic calendar.

James Turk, executive director of the CAUT, believes this idea is in conflict with academic freedom. “A university shouldn’t be the arm of the Church or the arm of state or the arm of a special interest group,” says Turk.

“The report is clearly an anti-Christian initiative,” says Matt Enns, a fifth-year Political Studies major, who also attended Carlton University as a freshman. “Having attended a secular university I can say with complete confidence that freedom of thought is more strongly encouraged at TWU than the institutions that the CAUT is holding up as models of unrestricted academic inquiry.”

TWU professors are not part of the CAUT, nor has there been any complaint filed against TWU pertaining to academic freedom. Turk believes this is because no one at TWU disagrees with the university’s fundamental principles as a Christian university. “It may not be surprising that there are no academic freedom complaints within their restricted definition when they don’t allow anybody in the door who disagrees with them,” says Turk. Turk believes the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, the organization that grants de facto accreditation for universities, should re-examine TWU’s membership.

The AUCC could not be reached for comment in time for printing.