A Very Good Investment

by Shonnie Finnegan

Everyone remembers Capen, especially if they heard any of his speeches. Whatever his topic, it was always about academic freedom.

Every year at convocation, he got up and told the students, "Everyone is free here. You can think whatever you choose, you can say whatever you like, no matter how wrong or even how foolish. The only requirement is that you have to be willing to defend yourself and your views, and to respect other people."

Capen said that defense of academic freedom is the pulse of the university. He held a classic notion that the competition of ideas on the open market is the only way the truth can emerge. And the main purpose of the university is to add to the store of knowledge through the open conflict of ideas. That's an old-fashioned idea in this postmodern age - the notion that there's a truth somewhere to be discovered!

Well, it's one thing to espouse these ideas. It's quite another when someone is in your office or on your phone complaining. And some of the faculty were firebrands.

In one case I heard about, someone took a very controversial position on something and Capen said he himself could not interfere. A member of the community came to Capen and told him, "Your stance on this matter has cost the university thousands and thousands of dollars." To which Capen replied, "Well, it was a very good investment."