A report released by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has caused a debate between groups of Christian schools questioning whether or not academic freedom can exist in an overly religious atmosphere.
The information CAUT released stated that Trinity Western University does not meet the standard of appropriate academic freedom because faculty are required to sign a faith statement to promote Christian influence before being hired.
The faith statement also acknowledges that there is one God and that the Bible is the inspired word of God.
Excerpts from Trinity Western’s academic calendar state that all learning, thinking and scholarship take place under the direction of the Bible.
Other Christian universities including Crandall University in Moncton, N.B. Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg and Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ont. are also being investigated as to whether or not their education systems are narrower because of the religious implications.
“University is a search for knowledge and that means looking at all critiques taken from different viewpoints, learning new things and challenging them,” said CAUT director, James Turk. “The cornerstone with Christian universities is that academic freedom cannot be expressed without fear of being questioned for offending higher authority.”
“We were not investigating any kind of wrongdoing. We were just confirming the nature of these institutions. We wanted to take a proactive approach instead of reactive,” Turk said.
President of Christian Higher Education, Al Hiebert said he disagrees with CAUT’s report and thinks most Christian universities have a greater level of academic learning.
“Christian universities share a diversity of viewpoints on a whole range of issues. We have old ideas but our strategies are new and tend to be more open and broad in the exploration of ideas,” he said.
Hiebert said the topic has been debated for thousands of years and different research has reflected different opinions and results.
“What troubles me about CAUT’s reasoning is that they seem to be out of touch with the Canadian history of universities and higher education around the world. CAUT wants to marginalize it. I think [CAUT] is out of step with universities around the world,” Hiebert said.
Earl Davey, vice president of Canadian Mennonite University defends Christian universities as well.
“We live and operate in a pluralist society. Christian universities exist in a complex of higher education and contribute to pluralism that is in this country,” Davey said. “We believe that we have important perspectives to bring to peace studies and international development because of the available perspective that arises from the tradition and competencies we have.”
Some university students are divided in opinion.
First-year Carleton University political science student, Tyler Amos said he believes CAUT brings up good points.
“Christian universities don’t have a diverse environment. It doesn’t reflect the real world. The whole basis of the enlightenment is logic over faith,” he said. “If you incorporate faith into academics, it comprises the integrity of the academic empiricism by accepting faith instead of facts.”
For the last 50 years, CAUT has responded to incidents of potential restriction on academic freedom. Turk said the issue at Trinity Western was not brought forward by any kind of objectivity from faculty.
There are currently more than 40, four-year Christian universities and colleges in Canada with a total enrollment of more than15,000 students.