Raleigh, NC—Stephen Baskerville, PhD, who has worked more than 30 years in universities in the United States and Europe, has authored a new report for the Martin Center entitled “Scholastic Gag Orders: NDAs, Mandatory Arbitration, and the Legal Threat to Academics.” The publication focuses on two methods that colleges and universities use to rid themselves of the faculty who resist intimidation, without the world knowing: non-disclosure/disparagement agreements and mandatory arbitration.
Baskerville’s report explores both NDA’s and MA’s, their history, and their context in a university vs. business environment. Both secular and religious colleges and universities use them to silence professors and critics. This process also keeps this from the public, and allows colleges and universities to act without facing any criticism.
Jenna A. Robinson, president of the Martin Center, said, “University practices that silence faculty deserve serious attention. Anyone who cares about free speech and academic freedom should be concerned about this issue.”
Baskerville concludes, “If institutions continue to use non-disparagement agreements, mandatory arbitration, and other legal mechanisms to deal with criticism and fights over academic freedom, the public should be more skeptical of the classroom instruction they offer and the scholarship produced in their Ivory towers.”