Petition to defend academic freedom against US interference

Nearly 900 scientists have signed a petition demanding that UNIFI, the Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities, and Arene, the Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences, take action to defend academic freedom in Finland from interference by the administration of United States President Donald Trump.

The petition, addressed to the rectors of Finnish universities and universities of applied science, states that President Trump’s efforts to move against diversity, equity and inclusion, and against tackling climate change, are a matter of concern, with even the use of certain expressions being denied from federal employees and the scientific community.

It states: “This attempt to restrict academic freedom and freedom of speech has now reached Finland. The University of Helsinki has already been issued demands to remove terms like ‘climate change’ and ‘egalitarian society’ from Fulbright scholarship announcements.

“We are concerned that this is just the beginning. The way in which we respond to these demands now will set limits on how far-reaching demands are issued in the future.”

The Swedish daily, Hufvudstadbladet, reported that the US administration had insisted that the Finnish-United States Fulbright programme’s announcement of grants does not use words like ‘inclusive society’, ‘women in society’ and ‘equality in society’ in the text.

This is despite Finland covering 80% of the cost of these grants. One grant paid for by the US has been cancelled.

The “Open petition to protect freedom of science” requests that Unifi and Arene publish statements on their websites that clearly reject any political attempt to censor the activities, research, and related communications of higher education institutions.

“We also ask that as leaders of these institutions, you share these statements and instructions on how to put them in practice within your organisation and inform your staff of what support is available for researchers facing attempts to suppress free science and freedom of speech.

“By publicly drawing the line in this way, we will discourage further attempts to curtail scientific freedom and make it easier to refuse such requests should any still be issued,” it states.

Restrictions ‘will not be accepted’

Heikki Holopainen, executive director of Unifi, told Yle that any attempt to restrict the freedom of research or the autonomy of universities “will not be accepted”.

“We will probably not respond directly to this appeal, as we will receive quite a lot of them, but it is probably necessary to remind ourselves of the freedom of science guaranteed by the [Finnish] constitution and its importance for a democratic society,” Holopainen said.

Arene’s Executive Director Ida Mielityinen, meanwhile, noted that an attempt such as this to influence the language used by Finnish educational institutions is unprecedented.

Efforts by the Trump administration to control the language used by educational institutes around the world have raised concerns among the scientific community in Finland.

The Chancellor of the University of Helsinki, Kaarle Hämeri, told Hufvudstadsbladet in February that US authorities had pressured the university to remove certain words and terms from its publications about Fulbright scholarships.

The Fulbright programme offers government-funded scholarships or grants to US citizens – including students, teachers, scientists, and artists – to study or work abroad.

According to Hämeri, the US objected to the use of terms such as ‘equal society’ and ‘climate change’ used by the university in a press release about the programme.

Tapani Hopkins, one of the scientists at Turku University, taking the initiative to petition, commented to University World News: “At the moment, this seems to mainly be an attack on free science in the USA. We’re receiving the ‘splashover’ effects elsewhere.

“However, it is likely only a matter of time before the campaign gets properly active outside the US borders. A large part of the world's research infrastructure is also based in the USA, so the attacks have immediate global consequences.”

‘Acting in line with values’

In relation to this pledge, the University of Helsinki issued a press release stating their position on academic freedom.

“The values of the University of Helsinki are truth, Bildung, freedom, and inclusivity. We act in accordance with our values and the principle of academic freedom. The acquisition of research funding is an important instrument in carrying out academic research.

“However, funding should not be sought at any cost, such as by removing certain words from research proposals under direct or indirect threat by the funder or a government,” Anne Portaankorva, vice-rector for research, doctoral education, and sustainability at the University of Helsinki said.

Chief Development Officer for Research at the University of Helsinki Dr Ritva Dammert told University World News: “To be precise, the United States administration has not been in contact with the University of Helsinki regarding the announcement of the Fulbright scholarship application.

“Naturally, we had to consider what the lists of prohibited words and fields presented in the public mean. It is important for the university that researchers from all humanities and social sciences disciplines can apply for the Fulbright scholarship exactly as stated in our agreement with the foundation.

“As you can imagine, the situation is very tricky and peculiar to the modern Western scientific community.

“On the other hand, it’s important to follow the US situation, and at the same time, it’s more important than ever to speak for academic freedom and try to keep the university community calm.”