IT would be tragic if freedom of expression on university campuses was to be limited by the demands of political correctness, according to Prof Frank Rhodes former president of Cornell University in the US.
Dr Rhodes, who delivers the third annual Trinity College/The Irish Times lecture in Trinity College tomorrow, told The Irish Times the function of a university is to shelter debate and encourage enquiry. He believes that universities everywhere are coming under increasing economic and political pressure and need to reaffirm their role in society.
Essential to this, he said, is the recognition that scholarship is a public trust: "It exists in the university not simply to provide professional recognition to those who engage in it or to enable them to undertake some personal vision quest.
Dr Rhodes, who was born in Warwickshire, England, was professor of geology at Cornell, and was previously professor of geology and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan. He is the author of five books, more than 70 major scientific articles and monographs, and some 60 articles on education, and has been a consultant to and participant in several major radio and television scientific series.
The topic of his lecture is The University National Powerhouse or Endangered Species. It takes place in TCD's Edmund Burke Theatre tomorrow at 8 p.m. and is open to the public.
