Free and Responsible

“Freedom and Responsibility” is Carl Becker’s description of the special tradition of Cornell that distinguishes it from the other universities. Looking back upon his experiences, Becker believes that Cornell University is distinct and prestigious because its professors are given the freedom to do as they please, and have a responsibility to do it to the best of their ability. I do agree that Cornell faculty members have a responsibility to work to the best of their ability, but I disagree that they have the complete freedom to do whatever they want.

Cornell professors are limited on what they are allowed to teach. Cornell hires faculty members in different fields and holds them responsible for teaching material relating to their respective field. For example, a professor in the department of biology will most likely be dismissed if he or she gives lectures on finance to his class throughout the whole semester. If each professor is given the freedom to teach whatever he or she desires, then they all might want to teach the same subject and some of the most important subjects may not be taught at all. If the faculty is given this freedom, then Cornell may not be a place where any student can study any subject that they wish. Rather, it would be up to the professors to decide which subjects are available for the students to study.

When Becker was invited to join the Cornell faculty, he was uninformed of a minimum required number of hours to instruct the students. However, it can not be true that he was given the freedom to teach as little as he desired. Cornell holds each professor responsible to teach his or her students a quality amount of material each semester, and would look lowly upon a professor who spends only a small amount of time teaching in class. To prevent this from happening, Cornell requires its faculty to abide by a schedule of classes to teach. If a professor rarely attends his or her own class, then he or she will most likely be released. It is this responsibility of the Cornell faculty to teach its students for a valuable amount of time that creates a stable and proficient university.

The Cornell faculty members are also limited due to the fact that they can teach to their students for only a maximum amount of hours each semester. Students are only required to attend a certain amount of lecture hours per class, and therefore, professors