The Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) denounced the decision of ANU to expel Beatrice Tucker and called on universities to disconnect their association with the military industrial complex.
Conservative commentators have been complaining for years that universities are, secretly, centres of left-wing indoctrination and that teachers are practicing some kind of thought control over the youth and having the audacity to encourage them to seek change.
According to this line of thinking, change is antithetical to educated youthful minds. Young people would more naturally accept the state of the world around them without question and generally turn out as junior versions of their parents and grandparents (even though there is no way most of them can follow that life path due to the vast intergenerational wealth disparity). Academics and their fearsome, concerted campaign of mind control needs to be put to a stop, or our young people will lose everything of value. Universities must stop telling young people what to think.
Unless, of course, it is about Palestine and Israel. In that case, everything just said does not apply and universities not only have a right but, indeed, a duty to tell students what to think. And students who refuse to be told what to think need to be made an example of.
Or so, one has to assume, goes the thinking inside the fevered mind of a particular brand of commentator.
Well. Contrary to reports of a vast left-wing conspiracy, ANU in fact needed very little convincing to expel student Beatrice Tucker for the sin of expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine who have been slaughtered in their tens of thousands over the last six months.
In a statement, the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) denounced this decision. Students, like all citizens, have an unequivocal right of freedom of speech and freedom of association. Any form of punishment arising from such expression of opinion can never be justified. The students involved in recent protest actions recognise the plight of the Palestine people and have demonstrated this in the encampments which have taken place in several universities throughout the nation.
University students have further exposed the deep involvement of our institutions of higher learning with military equipment manufacturers receiving grants, undertaking research and various other forms of collaboration including investments. Universities should be places to advance the development of humanity instead of being used to facilitate its destruction or being involved in the dominance of nations. IPAN is of the view that universities should operate independently and have no connections with and not be influenced in any way by the military complex. As active stakeholders, fee-paying students have every right to seek disclosure and termination of their universities’ unconscionable harmful ties with these companies. Taxpaying citizens are also very concerned that our universities, which form a pivotal component of our educational system, are being encroached upon by arms companies whose business model relies on a world at war in order to thrive.
Universities as centres of learning and thought leadership should be offering opportunities for debate on critical issues in order for students to gain clarity and determine for themselves the stand they wish to take. Suspension and expulsion of students by universities are forms of suppression which would go contrary to the ideals of learning and thought advancement.
IPAN stands together with the students who have shown much courage of conviction and calls on all universities to
- Be transparent in their dealings with the military industrial complex
- Disconnect their association with such players from the military industrial complex
- Cease any acts of harassment against students who have been legitimately protesting
- Ensure the provision of an avenue for rational debate and freedom of expression
Disclosure: Dr Michael Walker is a member of IPAN’s Coordinating Committee.
Michael Walker
Dr Michael Walker works in the Justice and Peace Office of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney. He teaches at Australian Catholic University.