Less than five months after the terrorist attacks that would forever change the United States, issues that resulted on college campuses across the country seem to be settling down.
The lingering question, however, is how universities will continue to deal with issues concerning freedom of speech, students' rights to privacy over school records, and relationships with international students in general.
By examining situations at other campuses, UW-Madison set standards for its future policies regarding such topics.
One case, which attracted national attention on several campuses across the country, was regarding freedom of speech, specifically referring to what professors are entitled to say to their students without seeming offensive.
Take Orange Coast College, a small community college in California that drew extensive media coverage after several political science students accused their professor of calling them \terrorists"" and ""Nazis"" in a class discussion.
According to Director of Community Relations Jim Carnett, the professor was voluntarily put on paid leave while the university hired a third party, the Orange Coast Department of Education, to investigate.
The department concluded 11 weeks later that many of the claims made by students were unsubstantiated. The professor will return to teach when the semester begins Jan. 28.
Even though things are quieter these days around OCC's campus, Carnett said the story speaks to the way tense situations were reported in the months immediately following Sept. 11.
""This story played much bigger on the national stage than it did here,"" he said.
Although UW-Madison has not had to publicly deal with a professor making a controversial comment of this nature, the possibility led some administrators here to speculate what would be done on campus in such an event.
UW-Madison Faculty Senate Chair Pat Wolleat said if a professor had made an offensive comment here, because of the weight the university places on freedom of speech, it would have been unlikely that the administration would have taken action against the person. Rather, colleagues might have disciplined the individual, she said.
The academic freedoms section of the policies of the UW System Board of Regents explains freedom of speech rights of professors who have the right to articulate their opinions even if they are deemed unpopular.
""I think that that is a very highly valued principle that faculty as a group are very committed to, and although they may be even sort of personally offended by it they would also want to uphold other people's right or privilege to say it,"" Wolleat said.
Sometimes, however, there is a thin line between what professors have the right to say and what is appropriate to say.
At the University of New Mexico, a professor was reprimanded after saying that anyone who could blow up the Pentagon ""has my vote.""
University of New Mexico Provost Brian Foster said the First Amendment does not protect all comments.
""The [American Association of University Professors] very clearly states that in extramural comments the professors have to use restraint,"" he said.
Wolleat also said it may be more difficult for private colleges and universities to tolerate comments made by professors because such institutions have to be more concerned as to what alumni might think, as well as whether it would affect their funding.
In addition to issues of speech, UW-Madison administrators also had to grapple with federal requests for a confidential records of international students.
Indiana University also had to confront this several months ago when a student newspaper mix-up had campuses across the nation worried about how private their ""confidential records"" really were.
On Oct. 23, the Indiana Daily Student incorrectly reported that the university had given the names of 3,200 international students to the FBI. That number was actually just the number of international students on campus.
University officials did, in fact, release the names of students who had been enrolled in the Intensive English Program for at least five years. This led other universities to question their own policies regarding the release of students' names.
""I was horrified,"" said Indiana University Associate Dean and Director of International Services Kenneth Rogers after he read that people thought his department had released all international students' names. ""It was just a gross mistake.""
Rogers said he estimated that four or five students were consequently questioned by the FBI, and none of their confidential personal records were released by his office.
In addition to the large amount of national coverage Indiana received, Rogers said until students were notified of the truth, it also affected campus climate.
""What it did was raise the anxieties among students, who were quite worried,"" he said.
UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley issued a statement Dec. 6 in which he said UW Police would not aid in federal plans to interview Dane County residents, some being UW-Madison students, as part of anti-terrorism efforts. The decision was made on the basis that the criteria to select individuals for the interviews was ""broadly based"" and did not consist of people suspected of criminal activity. Wiley also made clear that university officials would only release student information to law enforcement officials if doing so was consistent with state and federal laws.
Even making that kind of statement, perhaps acknowledging the possibility that federal agencies would try to obtain these records, may have heightened stress on campus.
But according to Provost Peter Spear, UW-Madison students dealt with post-Sept. 11 issues quite well, especially in regards to the respectful treatment in general of international students.
""I think that the students by and large have responded with respect,"" Spear said.
He said he attributed this positive response partially to the diversity of the campus.
""We have a very large international student body here, and perhaps students are more accustomed to attending classes and living with students from other parts of the world,"" he said.
UW-Madison has the fourth largest international student population of any U.S. university, with approximately 4,000.
Associate Dean of International Studies and Programs Cathy Meschievitz said UW-Madison officials also put a great deal of effort into organizing forums to educate students, which they plan to continue to do this semester, while expanding the focus beyond Sept. 11 and its effects.
In comparison to other universities, however, Meschievitz said UW-Madison's steps to assist and educate students were not out of the ordinary.
