Professor at center of controversy not invited to assembly

Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005 | 7:31 a.m.

If you go

UNLV's "Pursuing Academic Freedom in a Time of Crisis" conference is free and open to the public. The conference runs from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday in the Richard Tam Alumni Center. For more information or to register for the panel discussions, visit law.unlv.edu/AFC--Conference.html.

Economics professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe, whose showdown with administrators sparked the "Pursuing Academic Freedom in a Time of Crisis" conference, said he was miffed not to be formally included but glad his colleagues were continuing the debate.

Hoppe quietly fought university administrators for a year over comments he made in a spring 2004 lecture before teaming with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada in February 2005 and going public with his case.

A gay student in one of Hoppe's classes alleged that Hoppe's comments -- that gays are less likely to save for the future because they are less likely to have children -- created a hostile environment. That complaint prompted administrators' moves to censure Hoppe.

After a month of criticism, however, UNLV President Carol Harter reversed earlier attempts to instruct Hoppe on what he could say in class and reaffirmed the university's support of academic freedom.

The case left professors with questions about how student complaints were investigated, what constituted a hostile environment, and how and when administrators can instruct professors as to how to teach their classes, Hoppe and other professors said.

Friday's conference will explore the issues raised in Hoppe's case but will also look at the broader "universe" of balancing academic freedom with academic responsibility, law professor Robert Correales, one of the organizers, said. Hosted jointly by the faculty senate and the Boyd School of Law, the conference features national experts such as American Association of University Professors President Jane Buck and the association's lawyer, David Rabban.

The conference will give professors "a better understanding of what academic freedom is, what its limits are and what kind of responsibility it entails," faculty senate chairman Clint Richards said.

Hoppe, who will be lecturing Friday on economic security concerns in the Baltic states at a conference in Lithuania, said he hoped the conference will generate changes in the way the university handles cases such as his.

In the meantime, he's not changing how he teaches.

"I feel I'm completely vindicated," Hoppe said. "I have not the slightest inhibition to teach the same things again."