In a report released last week, a national conservative activist group singled out 117 instances of "unpatriotic behavior" at several top universities since the Sept. 11 attacks--and two of them occurred at Duke.
But many scholars named in the report, released by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, said the organization took events out of context.
"Although most faculty presumably shared America's horror and condemnation of the terrorist attacks, some did not," the report reads. "And while professors should be passionately defended in their right to academic freedom, that does not exempt them from criticism. The fact remains that academe is the only sector of American society that is distinctly divided in its response."
The report trumpeted the organization's ties to Lynne Cheney, wife of the vice president. But in a The New York Times article Saturday, Cheney spokesperson Margita Thompson said Cheney was no longer involved with the council.
Others have attacked the report's credibility.
"I thought it was pretty irresponsible work on the [report's] part," said John Burness, Duke senior vice president for public affairs and government relations. "It was cherry-picking out individuals without context."
Regarding Duke, the report noted a Sept. 19 letter to the editor of The Chronicle from junior Kathryn Duke, who criticized the widespread flying of the American flag for being too nationalist.
The student could not be reached for comment.
The report also addressed an incident involving anti-terror commentary on a professor's web site.
Gary Hull, visiting instructor in sociology and director of the Program on Values and Ethics in the Marketplace, posted two articles on his Duke web site in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks--"End States Who Sponsor Terrorism" and "Terrorism and Its Appeasement."
The report said Duke administrators shut down the website and that only after public uproar was it reinstated, along with a disclaimer that Hull's views do not reflect those of the University.
Burness said the incident was overplayed.
"I must say this is one of those rumors that because of the Internet has taken on a life of its own--almost like an urban myth--and has been reported in several news articles," Burness wrote in a Nov. 16 letter. "Frankly, we've been struggling to catch up to it and continue to do so."
The report said Duke has never before required any such disclaimer. Nevertheless, a University web page linked to several editorials written by faculty members since Sept. 11 also includes a disclaimer.
Hull declined to comment.
"I have already spent too much time on the flap over my program's website and do not want to discuss it further," Hull wrote in an e-mail.
The report also attacks higher education for waffling in its response to Sept. 11.
Bruce Jentleson, director of the Sanford Institute of Public Policy, said he thought the University's reaction to the attacks and subsequent military campaign has been more balanced than at other universities.
"These are tough issues. There's a lot of room for different views on these issues," Jentleson said. "Universities have been criticized for responding... in a knee-jerk ideologically left way. We have made an effort to represent a wide range of views."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.