The philosophy department at BYU recently decided not to rehire Jeffrey Nielsen after spring term as a result of the op-ed piece he wrote in the Salt Lake Tribune a couple weeks ago.

In the editorial Nielsen spoke out against the First Presidency’s position on the proposed Constitutional amendment that would have banned gay marriage. He further implied that some of the official church positions on its history are deceptive.

Given the circumstances, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Nielsen was fired. He publicly criticized not just the current First Presidency, but past church leaders who have compiled church history. He publicly criticized his employer. In any other work setting, no one would bat an eye at his termination.

The main reason people get upset about a professor being fired is the concept of academic freedom, as one reader points out in his letter to the editor today. This case, however, has very little to do with academic freedom.

BYU’s Web site defines individual academic freedom as “the freedom of the individual faculty member to teach and research without interference, to ask hard questions, to subject answers to rigorous examination, and to engage in scholarship and creative work.”

The Web site goes on to specify that faculty members have “the traditional right to publish or present the results of original research in the reputable scholarly literature and professional conferences of one's academic discipline.”

Nielsen’s op-ed was not part of classroom instruction and was not the result of any academic research. It was simply his opinion about gay marriage and the church’s position and actions related to gay marriage. His opinion was not published in an academic journal, but in the pages of the Salt Lake Tribune, which identified him at the bottom of the article as a BYU professor.

Academic freedom is important in a university setting, but there are boundaries that faculty members must work within. Other professors have done controversial research before and have not been punished. Biology professor William Bradshaw recently presented scientific research on biological factors affecting homosexuality, the same issue that Nielsen wrote about in his article.

Bradshaw, however, did not criticize the church or its positions. He urged his audience to be understanding of homosexuals and addressed the issue of how an LDS homosexual can live a righteous life. He has not been reprimanded by BYU for his research or how he presented it.

Bradshaw worked within the boundaries. Nielsen did not. Now he has to suffer the consequences.

Copyright Brigham Young University 15 Jun 2006