"Todschweigen"
at Chestnut Hill College:
The Story of How One Professor was
Quietly Deprived of Academic Freedom
And Disposed of for Examining the
Cult Like Nature of Alcoholics Anonymous,
Debunking the Disease Model of Addiction,
and Questioning the Idea that Mental
Illness Exists
The Stage: Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, PA
http://www.chc.edu/
The Program: Counseling Psychology and Human Services
http://www.chc.edu/graduate/Gpsych.html
The Players: Scott W. Browning, Ph.D.
http://www.chc.edu/faculty/Browningsc/
Thomas Klee, Ph.D.
http://www.chc.edu/faculty/klee/index.htm
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
http://www.schaler.net
William T. Walker, Ph.D.
http://www.chc.edu/administration/
The courses:
http://www.schaler.net/syllabi.html
With
The American Association of University Professors
http://www.aaup.org/
and
The AAUP Statement on Academic Freedom & Tenure
http://www.aaup.org/coma.htm
and the press weighs in
The Chronicle of Higher Education report on this story: "The Myth of Academic Freedom"
Project Censored at Sonoma State College gives The Chronicle Of Higher Education's story "Honorable Mention"
The Philadelphia City Paper's report on this story
INTRODUCTION
In June, 1997, I received a telephone call from Scott
W. Browning, Ph.D., Chairman of the graduate program in
psychology at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Dr. Browning asked me to travel to
Philadelphia from Maryland to meet with him, as he wanted me
to teach in their graduate psychology program. He read my
vitae and supporting materials. We had a cordial meeting
and he later asked me to teach a course entitled
"Spirituality of the Twelve Steps" for the Fall 1997
semester. I agreed to do so. The description of this
course in the Chestnut Hill Catalogue of courses is as
follows: "GRCP 634 Spirituality of the Twelve Steps.
Addresses spirituality as a key aspect of the twelve-step
recovery program." I asked the department administrative
assistant for a copy of past syllabi for this course, so
that I could see what other professors had done with it. I
was told that the past professor for this course, Thomas E.
Klee, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at Chestnut
Hill College, refused to share any of his past syllabi.
This was later confirmed by Dr. Browning in a meeting I had
with him and William T. Walker, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty
and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Chestnut Hill
College. I created a course from scratch. You can read the
syllabus I created for this course at
http://www.schaler.net/spirit12.html
About a month after starting the semester Dr. Browning
asked me to teach "Foundations of Addictive Behavior"
in the Spring 1998 semester. About a month into the
Spring 1998 semester he asked me to teach a course
entitled "Introduction to Graduate Counseling Psychology"
for the Summer 1998 session.
On Sun, 28 Jun 1998 22:00:24 +0000 I received the letter
below from Dr. Thomas E. Klee. I have never met Dr. Klee.
The "email concerning Szasz" he mentions is in reference to
my having written to Dr. Klee at his private web site
http://enter.net/~tklee/psych1.html [now a dead link].
At this website he had a list of resources and a link
whereby visitors could suggest to him other links he might
want to connect his site to as resources
[http://www.enter.net/~tklee/psych8.html--dead link].
He wrote "If you would like your site added to this page,
click here, and email information." I clicked on that
button and introduced myself to him as an adjunct professor
in the same department as he is (the title given to me by the
college was "adjunct professor"). I then suggested he might
be interested in linking his private site to the Szasz site.
As a result of that letter I was informed that my
name must not appear on any college literature, e.g.,
schedule of classes. All three courses I taught for the
college have now been turned over to other faculty.
THE DRAMA
From: tklee@enter.net
To: jschale@american.edu
[Sunday, June 28, 1998, 10:00 PM]
Dear Dr. Schaler:
I received your email concerning Szasz, and I must let you
know I was deeply offended at your connection between
Chestnut Hill College and your political beliefs about
Szasz.
You are, of course, entitled to your beliefs as well as your
right to send them out through cyberspace. My best wishes in
that effort. However, any link to Chestnut Hill College is
inappropriate.
The Department of Professional Psychology at Chestnut Hill
College is on record with a specific theoretical
orientation. This is our public position and any implied
connection between Chestnut Hill College and orientations
that directly oppose our stated orientation are confusing
and misleading to the public.
Finally, I am deeply concerned that you have taken these
actions without gaining approval from either the Department
or the College. I can assure you that the Department will
not give you permission to connect us to an advocation of
Szasz's beliefs.
Best wishes in your future endeavors.
P.S. Your web page is well done. Nice dog.
Thomas Klee, Ph.D.
Department of Professional Psychology
Chestnut Hill College
Philadelphia PA 19118
Tel: 215-248-7115
Fax: 215-248-7155
tklee@enter.net
tklee@chc.edu
*****
Date: Wed, 01 Jul 98 16:00:23 EDT
From: "Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler"<JSCHALE@american.edu>
Organization: The American University
Subject: Re: Szasz and CHC
To: tklee <tklee@enter.net>
In-Reply-To: Your message of Sun, 28 Jun 1998 22:00:24 +0000
Dr. Klee:
Dr. Scott Browning has now received a hard copy of your
letter below [as above, June 28]. I sent it to him with a
letter requesting a meeting with him about your letter. We
will be discussing this shortly.
Your comprehension of academic freedom is apparently
incomplete. I suggest you re-read the definitions of
academic freedom as endorsed by the American Association of
University Professors and the Association of American
Colleges. These statements are available on the web.
Moreover, I have never connected Chestnut Hill College with
any "political beliefs" publicly or privately. I do not
understand the basis on which you make this and your other
rather hostile remarks. I would appreciate it very much if
you would substantiate your accusations with evidence.
Otherwise, what you have written is meaningless to me, and
should be to others.
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
jschale@american.edu
*****
From: tklee@enter.net
To: jschale@american.edu
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 17:17:09 +0000
Subject: reply
Dear Dr. Schaler:
My previous email affirmed your academic freedom, and your
right to express it though out cyberspace or anywhere else,
so I was surprised at your response, especially your
ascribing hostility to my motive. But then at my age I
really should no longer be surprised at the great variety of
ways others perceive and interpret information. So, assuming
that I was not sufficiently clear, let me try again.
I simply cautioned you to distinguish between your
particular beliefs/orientation and the official, published
orientation of the Department of Professional Psychology at
Chestnut Hill College. We have worked very hard at achieving
an orientation that we use in our marketing and public
presentations. I just do not want any confusion about that
orientation in the minds of students or the general public.
I admit I might be a little oversensitive to this issue.
Since I originated our graduate program in 1987, I have
always been concerned about the integrity of the program.
It may surprise you that I share many of your beliefs as
presented on you web page; and anyone who knows me would be
shocked at the suggestion that I do not understand academic
freedom, since I have been one of the main advocates of
academic freedom at CHC, and have, throughout my life, been
an advocate for individual liberty.
Finally, I though I made some rather positive statements
about your rights and your web page.
Good luck at your meeting with Dr. Browning. I am hopeful
that he can help you reach some clarification.
Thomas Klee, Ph.D.
Department of Professional Psychology
Chestnut Hill College
Philadelphia, PA 19118
Summer e-mail: tklee@enter.net
*****
Date: Thu, 02 Jul 98 16:23:19 EDT
From: "Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler"
Organization: The American University
Subject: Re: reply
To: tklee@enter.net
In-Reply-To: Your message of Wed, 1 Jul 1998 17:17:09 +0000
July 2, 1998
Thomas Klee, Ph.D.
Department of Professional Psychology
Chestnut Hill College
Philadelphia, PA 19118
tklee@enter.net
Dr. Klee:
I'd asked you to provide evidence to substantiate your
accusations and you did not. However, I have investigated
the matter on my own and I hope to have now discovered the
source of what appears to be a misunderstanding.
I teach at several different universities and am
frequently asked by administrators to either provide
biographical material for their web sites, syllabi, and/or
links to web pages of my own. Most schools encourage if not
require it. Theoretical and political orientations of the
faculty members are irrelevant. On my web page I list all
of the syllabi, past and present, for the various schools I
teach at. You can see this for yourself at
http://rdz.acor.org/szasz/schaler/syllabi.html [now a dead
link].
I also include the urls for the various courses on my
various syllabi so students can access these directly, along
with other relevant information concerning topics covered in
class. Since Chestnut Hill College has a web page with
course listings and schedule of classes, I contacted the
webmaster at CHC and suggested a link to my syllabus for
Introduction to Graduate Counseling Psychology. I have
enclosed a copy of this correspondence here for your
information. As you can see from the correspondence below,
the webmaster linked the name of the course to my syllabus
for CHC. You should also know that _I_ cannot make any
changes to the CHC web site on my own. Only the CHC
webmaster can do that. That was this past May.
I created and own The Thomas S. Szasz Cybercenter for
Liberty and Responsibility (known as "the Szasz site").
This site is provided by me as a public service. As you can
see, there are contributions from many distinguished
professionals on the site and more contributions will be
added regularly. I am also one of the contributors and I
use the site to house my own personal web pages. The Szasz
site is hosted by St. John's University in Jamaica, N.Y. I
was invited by the person in charge there, Dr. Robert
Zenhausern, a professor of psychology at St. John's, to have
the Szasz site hosted there. I graciously accepted his kind
invitation. You may also be interested to know that Dr.
Zenhausern does not agree with everything posted on the
site. He has also informed me that he disagrees with some
of my positions and perspectives on mental health and
illness. Nevertheless, in the sprit of providing important
academic information and theoretical perspectives, he hosts
this and many other sites as a public service.
On approximately June 7, 1998, Dr. Zenhausern retired
from St. John's. Once again he invited me to move my site
to a new host, rdz.acor.org, which he is now in charge of.
Again, I graciously accepted his kind offer. He politely
took it upon himself to create and post a referring page to
the new site, http://rdz.acor.org/szasz [dead], so as not to
cause any extra work for me and the many people from around
the world who visit the Szasz site. A tribute to his public
service is offered in the current issue of Psychnews
International, an on-line publication, due out next week.
You can subscribe to this publication free of charge (and
read a statement by Dr. Zenhausern followed by two
appreciations by psychologists) by sending the following
command to listserv@listserv.nodak.edu subscribe psychnews
yourfirstname yourlastname.
Updates to the new address at rdz.acor.org should be
complete in the next few days. In the meantime, it appears
when people go to the old address (http://rdz.stjohns.edu/szasz}
[now a dead link] and _any_ of the pages housed
there, they are automatically shifted to a referring page,
informing them the url has been changed. After a few
seconds, people are taken to the home page at the new
address. Thus, even if people point their browsers to a
specific page on the site at the old address, they are taken
automatically to the home page for the site at the new
address.
Apparently this is what happened when people linked
from the course name at CHC. They were taken to a referring
page, and then automatically taken to the home page of the
Szasz site. In order to avoid any further confusion, I
stopped by the computer lab at Chestnut Hill College today
and explained the matter to the webmaster. We explored the
problem with the link together. I requested the link be
eliminated. She kindly did so and we confirmed this
together. Thus, there is no longer any link from the CHC web
site to my web pages.
I hope you understand it has never been my intention to
link Chestnut Hill College with any particular political,
psychological, and/or philosophical orientation -- other
than one cherishing academic freedom and teaching
excellence. I appreciate Dr. Browning's invitation to teach
at Chestnut Hill College and I believe I have fulfilled and
will continue to fulfill my teaching responsibilities there
with the utmost integrity and respect for students, other
faculty members, and the institution as a whole. I expect
the same kind of respect in return.
As you are undoubtedly aware, there is a great deal of
intolerance expressed and demonstrated by professionals in
the fields of psychology and psychiatry who adhere to
competing theoretical explanations for behavior and the
diverse clinical, legal, political and social policies based
on those explanations. Having been a target of such
intolerance and discrimination in the past, I do not take
kindly to accusations and/or suggestions that I am anything
less than highly responsible and ethical in my work as a
professional. The various department chairs, my faculty
colleagues, and my students at each of the institutions I
have been invited to teach at will attest to my integrity in
this regard.
Moreover, I have been completely open in all my
dealings with Dr. Browning, sharing syllabi, vitae updates,
examinations, study guides, etc. I have offered to give a
talk to department faculty so colleagues know something
about my views (I have met only one faculty member in the
department other than Dr. Browning, and that was by way of
passing in the hall). I offered to sponsor a guest lecture
at CHC by a well-known psychiatrist who has recently come
out with a very interesting book on Buddhism and
psychotherapy because of CHC's expressed interest in
psychology and spirituality. I spoke with Dr. Browning
about this and gave him relevant materials which he
presented at a faculty meeting. I heard nothing. The
author came and left the Philadelphia area.
I welcome respectful and vigorous debate. If you are
in strong disagreement with my ideas, as you suggested in
your first letter, I am happy to engage in a public debate
with you on a topic of mutual interest. Perhaps we can make
this a college-wide debate in the fall.
I hope this letter now clears up the matter to your
satisfaction.
Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
jschale@american.edu
*****
Return-Path:
To: jschale@american.edu
(by way of "Lisa M. Olivieri"<webmastr@chc.edu>)
From: Webmaster
Subject: Re: Linking my course syllabus and other info
I have linked your syllabus to the name of your course. We
are in the process of developing policies regarding linking
individual faculty pages. Since neither our full-time nor
part-time faculty can link personal pages right now, we can
only link your syllabus. Hope this is sufficient for your
needs. If you would like a discussion page for your course,
we would be glad to develop one. If you wish to view a
sample discussion page: http://www.chc.edu/comsc300
Lisa M. Olivieri, SSJ
Webmaster, CHC
At 09:45 AM 5/12/98 -0400, Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler wrote:
Hello,
I'm an adjunct professor in the Graduate Division of
Counseling Psychology and have a question regarding possible
links on your web page. I'm teaching Introduction to
Counseling Psychology - GRCP 499 in Summer Session II 1998.
This course is listed at
http://www.chc.edu/graduate/psychsum98.html
I have a large web page at St. John's University in Jamaica,
NY and since I teach at several universities I keep my
course syllabi there for students. Would it be possible for
you to link the following url to GRCP 499 Introduction to
Counseling Psychology
http://rdz.stjohns.edu/szasz/schaler/introgradcounsel.html
and possibly link the following to my name as it's listed at
your site as J. Schaler, Ph.D.
http://rdz.stjohns.edu/szasz/schaler/index.html
If it's one or the other please link just the syllabi. Only
half of the syllabus is up now because I'm finalizing it
now. However, if you link to it now it will be ready for
students in two weeks.
Please let me know if you can do this or not. Thanks very
much.
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
jschale@american.edu
*****
I telephoned Scott Browning several times to talk about
my fall teaching schedule and to arrange a meeting with
him to discuss this matter with Dr. Klee in person. I sent
him a copy of the above correspondence between Dr. Klee and
myself. After refusing to return my phone calls, Dr.
Browning finally called me after I sent a letter to him
requesting a meeting. We met in his office on July 17,
1998. I sent him the following letter two days later and
cc-ed a copy of it to the President of Chestnut Hill College:
July 19, 1998
Scott Browning, Ph.D.
Chairman
Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services
Chestnut Hill College
9601 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia, PA. 19118-2693
Dear Scott:
As a matter of record I want to confirm with you the
following conversations we had at our meeting on Friday,
July 17:
You asked me what my personal views/opinions of
Alcoholics Anonymous are. You said you did not want me to
teach "Spirituality of the 12-Steps" again. Since I taught
this course for you last fall using some of the most erudite
interdisciplinary resources available, including
anthropological, sociological, historical, and psychological
perspectives from materials I have used successfully at
other academic institutions for many years -- _all of which I
shared with you _ -- it is clear now the only reason you are
not re-hiring me to teach that course is because of my
personal views/opinion of Alcoholics Anonymous and your
personal views/opinion of my views and opinion. Apparently,
a professor at Chestnut Hill College must believe the
philosophy and doctrine of Alcoholics Anonymous are true --
over and above any peer-reviewed academic materials to the
contrary -- in order to be re-hired. That criteria is hardly
characteristic of a good doctoral program.
You asked me about my personal belief in "mental
illness." You asked me about psychiatrist Thomas S. Szasz.
You made clear you did not want me to teach "Foundations of
Addictive Behavior" again. Since I taught this course for
you this past spring using some of the most erudite
interdisciplinary resources available, materials I have used
successfully at other academic institutions for years, it is
clear now the only reason you are not re-hiring me to teach
that course is because of my personal views/opinion of the
nature of mental illness and my relationship with Thomas
Szasz, M.D. Apparently, a professor at Chestnut Hill
College must believe in the existence of mental illness and
the disease model of addiction doctrine in order to be re-
hired. Deconstructing the disease model of behavior is
apparently forbidden in your doctoral program.
You told me Dr. Thomas Klee, a professor in your
department, had "yelled" at you on the phone about my being
linked in any way to Chestnut Hill College. You told me he
said I am not an adjunct professor at Chestnut Hill College.
You told me you told him I am an adjunct professor at
Chestnut Hill College. You told me you would not put my
name on the schedule of courses because Professor Klee would
be upset by this. You said you might ask me to teach a
course in the fall on "theory" because then you could get me
to teach for you and my name would not appear on college
literature so as not to further anger Dr. Klee. As you
recall, in the letters I gave you from Dr. Klee and my
responses to him he wrote " . . . I must let you know I was
deeply offended at your connection between Chestnut Hill
College and your political beliefs about Szasz. (June 28,
1998)"
When I left your office on Friday I read the schedule
of fall classes for the first time and noted that all three
classes I taught for you this past year, "Spirituality of
the 12-steps," "Foundations of Addictive Behavior," and now
"Introduction to Graduate Counseling Psychology" (which, as
you know, I am still teaching) are all being taught by other
professors. You replaced me for all three courses without
discussing the matter with me. As you recall, I left a
written message for you in your office mail box last
semester, called you and left a message on your voice mail,
stopped by your office to see if by chance you were in (and
told your secretary I was looking for you), and sent you a
letter requesting a meeting to discuss future teaching
plans. When we finally made plans to meet you apologized
for not getting back to me. Apparently during that time you
were making other arrangements to have me replaced -- yet you
did not want to talk to me about it. That was cowardly of
you. Moreover, it now appears that the link to my web page
via Chestnut Hill College (documented in my letter to Dr.
Klee, copies of which I sent to you and have enclosed here
for the President of Chestnut Hill College) had very little
to do with Dr. Klee's anger.
I prepared and taught three courses for Chestnut Hill
College and I believe I did an excellent job. That was a
lot of work. I am now receiving phone calls and letters
from students wondering why my name is not on the fall
schedule of courses. I have copies of position papers by
students from "Foundations of Addictive Behaviors" detailing
the ways in which their thinking has changed as a result of
their course with me. These are outstandingly positive
reports. You have not shared any of the evaluations by
students from that course with me to date.
I have discussed this matter with senior professors at
major graduate institutions around the country. They have
read my correspondence with Dr. Klee. They are shocked by
what you and Dr. Klee have done to me. Moreover, they say
your behavior speaks very poorly of your department and the
college as a whole. I tend to agree.
It is clear now you have discriminated against me on
the basis of my personal ideas, values and philosophies.
Apparently, you and Dr. Klee are entitled to your opinions
yet I am not. The integrity and ethical quality of my
teaching has always been high. You have never contested
that. You know the majority of my students at Chestnut Hill
College will stand by me. I suspect once they find out I
have been "let go" you will hear complaints. Some may be
reluctant to express themselves out of fear you and other
professors may retaliate against them in some indirect way.
I have already received reports about exchanges between
former students of mine and their current professors at CHC.
When I tell students I have not been asked back to teach
they know why: They say "what about academic freedom?"
And this really is the bottom line here Scott: You are
flagrantly violating the principles of academic freedom as
established by the American Association of University
Professors (AAUP). I am requesting a review of the matter.
I am now being urged by colleagues to write about my
experience with you and Dr. Klee as representatives of
Chestnut Hill College for national publications. As you
know, I write a regular column for Psychnews International
and I plan to write about the state of academic freedom in
it this fall. I have been asked by the producer of
"DEBATESDEBATES," a television program broadcast on 170 PBS
stations nationwide, for a topic to focus his show on in the
next few months (as you know, I've been a guest on
approximately 10 of these shows over the past year and a
half) and I intend to suggest "Is Academic Freedom A Myth?"
as a topic. I will ask the producers to contact you and Dr.
Klee so you both will have an opportunity to defend
yourselves and the College publicly. Finally, another
colleague of mine, a tenured professor at Penn State, has
encouraged me to post Dr. Klee's letters and my responses to
him on my web page for everyone to judge for themselves. We
already have other examples of this involving other
professors at our web site now. As you may be unaware, the
web site has received international recognition and
outstanding praise.
I know this is all upsetting to you and will likely
upset your superiors as a copy of this letter has been sent
to the President of Chestnut Hill College. I'm afraid
you've brought these consequences on yourself. I do not
take kindly to the kind of discrimination you and Dr. Klee
are engaged in. You have both been disrespectful, dishonest
and unprofessional in your dealings with me. I also think
you are hurting your students dearly by engaging in such
discriminatory practices. And you are certainly misleading
them into thinking they are in an intellectually rigorous
program. You may also be hurting your department's
reputation. If Chestnut Hill College belongs to any
professional association of colleges and universities
adopting the AAUP's position statement on academic freedom
it appears Chestnut Hill College is in violation of that
policy and risks censure. Clearly, you are setting out on
the wrong foot with regard to your new doctoral program.
Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
cc: President Carol Jean Vale, SSJ, Ph.D.
*****
Dr. Browning called me upon receiving the letter and was
extremely upset. He said the letter was the equivalent of
"hitting him square in the face." He said "why would you
send a copy of this to the President?" I then received the
following letter from William T. Walker, Ph.D., Dean of the
Faculty and Vice-President of Academic Affairs at Chestnut
Hill College:
Chestnut Hill College
July 4, 1998
Dear Dr. Schaler:
President S. Carol Jean Vale, SSJ has provided me with a
copy of your letter to Dr. Scott Browning of July 19th. I
suggest that you call me at 215/248/7130 so that Dr.
Browning, you and I can arrange a meeting to discuss the
issues which you have raised.
I look forward to meet you and hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
William T. Walker, Ph.D.
Vice president for Academic Affairs
and Dean of the Faculty
c: S. Carol jean Vale, SSJ, Ph.D., President
Dr. Scott Browning, Chair, Department of Professional Psychology
9601 Germantown Avenue Phone : 215-248-7000
Philadelphia, PA 19118-2693
*****
I called Dr. Walker and we arranged a date to meet with Dr.
Browning on August 12, 1998. The three of us met at
Chestnut Hill College on August 12 and discussed the matter
at length for about 1.25 hours. During this meeting Dr.
Walker listened to both sides and read all documents Drs.
Browning, Klee and I had exchanged. During the meeting Dr.
Browning said the following to me in front of Dr. Walker:
"You talked about how AA was a cult in your class entitled
"Spirituality of the Twelve Steps." I responded by saying I
used several articles that had been published in peer-
reviewed journals on the cult and religious nature of
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). I asked him if that was
unacceptable. He said "yes," meaning it was unacceptable to
use articles examining the cult-like nature of AA even if
they were in respectable journals.
At another point in the meeting he said a few students
were critical of me. I pointed out how those students were
in AA and that a graduate program in psychology should not
be advancing the ideology of AA, and that if a student in
their graduate program could not step back and examine AA
objectively then she had no business being in that program.
I further asked Dr. Browning what the majority of the
students in my classes had written in terms of their
evaluations of my teaching. He said the majority had
praised my teaching. I asked him if he was giving more
weight to one or two students who were critical of me than
to the majority of students who praised my teaching. He
said that he was giving greater weight to those students who
were critical of what I was teaching.
Dr. Browning tried unsuccessfully to argue that I was
making "much ado about nothing." I then asked him if he
thought it was respectful of a faculty member at Chestnut
Hill College to characterize me as a "defensive
reactionary." He paused and said he would not consider
doing so respectful. I then showed him and Dr. Walker a
copy of the following correspondence:
*****
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 22:43:38 -0400
From: David Herman
Reply-To: daherman@suffolk.lib.ny.us
To: jschale@american.edu
Subject: [Fwd: Re: Dr. Jeff Schlaer]
From: tklee@enter.net
To: daherman@suffolk.lib.ny.us
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 20:27:28 +0000
Subject: Re: Dr. Jeff Schlaer
In-reply-to: <35B133E7.194@suffolk.lib.ny.us>
Dear Sir:
Thank you for your kind note. It is always nice to hear
from such an enlightened person, especially in a world that
is filled with so many defensive reactionaries.
> Date: Sat, 18 Jul 1998 19:46:47 -0400
> From: David Herman <daherman@suffolk.lib.ny.us>
> Reply-to: daherman@suffolk.lib.ny.us
> To: tklee@enter.net
> Subject: Dr. Jeff Schlaer
> Enclosed.
>
I thought I would send you this in light of your dispute
with Dr. Schaler. For helping Adler with the new edition
he gave me a set of GREAT BOOKS. I found out about this
book from Dr. Szasz. Adler was invited to speak by Szasz's
teacher, Dr. Franz Alexander. The attending psychiatrists,
including Dr. Karl Menninger, were so upset by what Adler
had to say that they branded Adler with a psychiatric
diagnosis. The full story is in Adler's autobiography
PHILOSOPHER AT LARGE.
Dr. Szasz's and Dr. Schaler's position on "mental illness"
is not new. Mortimer Adler says it goes back as far as St.
Thomas Aquinas! Adler in WHAT MAN HAS MADE OF MAN says
Freud can best be understood in the light of Aquinas.
Adler has a a Freud volume in each of the 2 editions of the
GREAT BOOKS series so, like Szasz and Schaler, he is not
anti- Freud.
I met Dr. Schaler at the debate Dr. Szasz had with
Dr. Torrey at Towson State University. Although, I, Dr.
Szasz, Dr. Schaler, and Prof. Richard Vatz, who moderated
the debate, disagree with "the medical model of mental
illness", this did not prevent us from getting along with
Dr. Torrey. Szasz and Torrey have been friends a long
time. Dr. Szasz even endorsed Dr. Torrey's book THE DEATH
OF PSYCHIATRY.
*****
FEIGNING CLOSURE
Dr. Walker listened carefully throughout the meeting
and said in summary that this _was_ an issue of academic
freedom and that Drs. Browning and Klee had interfered with
my academic freedom, as I had consistently maintained. He
pointed out how in a department of political science, for
example, socialist and capitalist perspectives, while very
much opposed to one another, must be allowed to co-exist.
He then asked me what I wanted. Having anticipated that
question, I presented him and Dr. Browning with the
following memo:
*****
Memorandum
To: Scott Browning, Ph.D., Chair, Dept. of Professional
Psychology
William T. Walker, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic
Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Chestnut Hill College
Date:August 12, 1998
Re: My future relationship with Chestnut Hill College
1. What guarantee do I have from the two of you, as
representatives of Chestnut Hill College, that I will not be
discriminated against, as a faculty member, on the basis of
my personal beliefs and political orientation by you, other
faculty members, and/or employees of Chestnut Hill College?
2. I want you to guarantee to me that you will abide by the
principles of academic freedom as stated by the American
Association of University Professors in your dealings with
me as a faculty member.
3. What ways do you think we can move beyond this current
problem and how do you envision your future relationship
with me?
4. I want complete freedom to list my affiliation as an
adjunct professor at Chestnut Hill College in all forms of
media where my name may appear, e.g. radio, television,
newspapers, etc.
5. I would like to teach no more than three different
courses.
6. I would like fair and reasonable notice regarding your
intention to hire or not hire me for teaching.
7. If you are going to sever your relationship with me I
would like an explanation of why that has occurred, is
occurring, or will occur in writing.
*****
Dr. Walker said he would send me a letter in response. I
told him I thought he had been fair. I thanked him for
meeting with me. We all shook hands and said good bye.
About a week later I received the following letter from Dr.
Walker:
Chestnut Hill College
August 18, 1998
Dear Jeff:
It was a pleasure meeting with you last week to discuss the
concerns which you expressed in your letter to Dr. Scott
Browning of July 19, 1998.
I would like to take this opportunity to re-state the views
which I expressed at that meeting.
1. Chestnut Hill College is committed to the standards of
academic freedom as expressed by the American Association
of University Professors (see attachment). Further, we will
not tolerate any form of discrimination against anyone on
the basis of personal beliefs and/or political orientation.
2. We consider you to be a regular adjunct faculty member
and as such, you may list yourself as affiliated with
Chestnut Hill College.
3. I will work with S. Mary Anne Celenza, SSJ, Ph.D., Dean
of the College for Women, Graduate School, and Continuing
Education, to formulate written directives to Department
Chairs and Program Directors on hiring procedures for
adjunct faculty. These procedures will include timelines for
hiring, notification to adjuncts who may not be needed for a
particular semester, etc. Procedures relating to
evaluations/review of adjunct faculty will also be
developed. All of these documents will be shared with all
of our adjunct faculty.
4. We encourage faculty to use technology to communicate
with students and to share material such as course syllabi.
5. Regarding your interest in teaching no more than three
different courses -- that choice is yours and we respect it.
I hope that we can move on from this situation. I regret
the inconvenience which may have resulted and iwll work to
establish procedures which will curtail the recurrence of
such a situation.
If you have any questions now or later, please do not
hesitate to contact me directly.
With best wishes,
Bill Walker
William T. Walker, Ph.D.
Vice president for Academic Affairs
and Dean of the Faculty
c: Dr. Scott Browning
9601 Germantown Avenue Phone : 215-248-7000
Philadelphia, PA 19118-2693
*****
I responded in kind with the following letter:
August 23, 1998
William T. Walker, Ph.D.
Vice President of Academic Affairs
and Dean of the Faculty
Chestnut Hill College
9601 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19118-2693
Dear Bill:
Thank you very much for your letter of August 18,
1998. I enjoyed meeting you and having the
opportunity to go over my concerns raised in my letter
to Dr. Scott Browning of July 19, 1998.
I think you have been fair and sincere in listening to
me and your decision is, I believe, as it should be.
Several senior academic colleagues of mine at other
universities around the country have now praised your
defense of academic freedom and I believe Chestnut
Hill College's reputation is protected. I think such
praise for you is well-deserved. Enclosed you will
also find a copy of my letter to Dr. Norma Schulman of
the American Association of University Professors.
I now consider the matter closed and behind us and I
look forward to teaching for Scott Browning again in
the near future.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
enclosure
cc: Dr. Scott Browning
*****
From: "Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler" <JSCHALE@american.edu>
Subject: Re: Your message to AAUP
To: Norma Schulman <nschulman@aaup.org>
Dear Dr. Schulman:
Since your letter below I have now had a meeting with
William T. Walker, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic
Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Chestnut Hill College and
Scott Browning, Ph.D., Chairman of the Dept. of Graduate
Counseling Psychology, Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia.
Dr. Walker listened carefully to the evidence I provided
and was very attentive to my concerns regarding
infringements upon my academic freedom as a member of
the faculty at Chestnut Hill College, discrimination on
the basis of my personal beliefs, political orientation,
etc.
I received a very cordial and I believe sincere letter
from Dr. Walker on August 22, 1998 ensuring
my status as adjunct professor of psychology, and
guaranteeing my academic freedom and my freedom to
list my affiliation with the College in all public
writings and media presentations. He also assured me
the College would not tolerate any discrimination
against me on the basis of my personal beliefs and
political orientation. And he agreed to other requests and
concerns of mine in a memorandum I gave to him and Dr.
Browning at our meeting. He also reassured me Chestnut Hill
College is committed to the standards of academic freedom as
expressed by the AAUP.
I have consulted with distinguished academic colleagues
around the country regarding this case and the letter I
received from Dr. Walker. I am pleased with this outcome
and I believe I will not need any assistance from the AAUP
at this time.
Thank you very much for your prompt and considerate reply.
With best wishes,
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
jschale@american.edu
*****
On Fri, 31 Jul 1998 10:52:28 -0400 Norma Schulman said:
Professor Schaler:
If you would like your case to be reviewed, you should
first of all try to appeal the decision at the institution
(usually there's a limited time in which to file an appeal.
What would be definitive in this context are the
policies and procedures in your faculty handbook.)
If you'd like AAUP assistance either call or send material
(a narrative and some documentation) to Committee A.
*****
I then received the following letter from Dr. Schulman:
To: "Dr. Jeffrey A. Schaler" <JSCHALE@american.edu>
From: "Norma Schulman" <nschulman@aaup.org>
Subject: Re: Your message to AAUP
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 09:12:23 -0400
Professor Schaler,
I'm very glad things worked out for you.
Regards, Norma Schulman
*****
DISHONESTY AND COWARDICE PREVAIL
During the Fall of 1998 Dr. Browning refused to ask me to
teach again. He refused to ask me to teach in the Spring of
1999 too. Students from the courses I taught there
continued to contact me wanting to know why I was not
scheduled to teach. I maintained correspondence with them
in order to be helpful as their professor. I helped one
student get into law school the University of Pittsburgh.
Despite numerous requests for copies of the evaluations of
my teaching by students for the course I taught during the
summer of 1998 he refused to send me those evaluations. I
waited patiently, however, enough was enough and I sent him
the following letter on February 12, 1999:
February 12, 1999
Scott Browning, Ph.D.
Chairman
Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services
Chestnut Hill College
9601 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia, PA. 19118-2693
Dear Scott:
Despite my phone call to you in October of 1998, your
voice mail message soon thereafter in which you said you'd
be sending me my evaluations for the summer 1998 course
(GRCP 499--Introduction to Graduate Counseling Psychology),
and the follow-up e-mail (copy enclosed) I sent to you on
October 13, 1998, I STILL have not received my evaluations
by students from you for that course. You were obviously in
possession of them back then because you told me they were
very good.
Since it was my understanding, based on the letter I
received from Bill Walker (copy enclosed), that the problems
you and Professor Klee caused me were resolved, I would
appreciate it very much if you would send me, (along with
the evaluations you said you would send me in October), a
letter from you explaining my status as an adjunct professor
in your department. Please refer to the letter from Bill
Walker carefully.
Since the problems caused by you and Professor Klee had
so much to do with what you both apparently considered the
inappropriateness of my perspective in an academic setting,
I thought you would be interested in the enclosed
correspondence from the book review editor at SOCIETY
magazine, published by Transaction Publishers at Rutgers
University. I was invited to write the book review because
of the very perspective you and Dr. Klee apparently find so
distasteful.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
cc: William T. Walker, Ph.D.
enclosures
*****
About two weeks later I received the evaluations. All of
the students gave me very high marks. None of them were
critical or negative about my teaching. Dr. Browning
scribbled the following message to me on an index card:
"Dear Jeff, Here are the evaluations you requested. Scott"
Since I'd not been asked back to teach I began to realize
that the whole meeting and letter from Dr. Walker regarding
academic freedom was nothing but a charade. Neither Dr.
Browning nor Dr. Walker refused to have anything more to do
with me. The Germans have a term for this: Todschweigen
[Tod = death + schweigen = silence, thus "death by
silence"].
*****
July 16, 1999
William T. Walker, Ph.D.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty
Chestnut Hill College
9601 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia, PA. 19118-2693
Dear Bill:
In your letter to me dated August 18, 1998 (copy
enclosed), you apologized on behalf of Chestnut Hill College
for "the inconvenience which may have resulted [from the
problems caused by Drs. Browning and Klee] and [wrote that
you] will work to establish procedures which will curtail
the recurrence of such a situation." You ended your letter
with the following: "If you have any questions now or
later, please do not hesitate to contact me directly." I
don't have any questions Bill, however, I do have a few
statements.
It is now just short of a year since our August 12,
1998 meeting with Scott Browning. As you know, nothing
constructive came out of that meeting. The discrimination
against me continued. You didn't do anything about it. I
trusted you Bill. I dropped the request for investigation
by the American Association of University Professors because
you gave me your word that the discrimination you
acknowledged Drs. Browning and Klee had committed against me
would not continue. Now I'll have to reinstate the request
for investigation. You didn't keep your word. You misled
me into believing you were solving the problem of
infringement upon my academic freedom exhibited by Drs.
Browning and Klee.
In your letter you also wrote: "Chestnut Hill College
is committed to the standards of academic freedom as
expressed by the American Association of University
Professors (see attachment). Further, we will not tolerate
any form of discrimination against anyone on the basis of
personal beliefs and/or political orientation."
Those two statements were dishonest ones, Bill.
Chestnut Hill College most certainly is not committed to the
standards of academic freedom as expressed by the AAUP.
Moreover, CHC most certainly will tolerate discrimination
against faculty members on the basis of personal beliefs
and/or political orientation.
Of course, I no longer have any interest in teaching at
CHC. However, I do want to set the record straight as I
take this unfortunate matter into the court of public
opinion.
Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey A. Schaler, Ph.D.
cc: President Carol Jean Vale, SSJ, Ph.D.,
Dr. Scott Browning
enclosure
*****
TODSCHWEIGEN
No response. Nothing. Todschweigen. Dr. Browning is
seeking accreditation of his program from the
American Psychological Association.
The End
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