Endangered Scholars Worldwide: Introduction

Endangered Scholars Worldwide: Introduction IN THE FIRSTAPPEARANCES OFOUR NOWREGULARFEATUREALERTING OUR READERS to the plight of endangered scholars around the globe, initiated in our summer 2007 issue, we limited our alerts and callsfor action to imprisoned scholars and scholars whose lives are presently threatened by the governments ofthe countries in which they live. In this issue we have added an additional section that lists the names offoreign scholars invited'to speak or lecture at universities in the United States who have been denied entry visas by the US State Department. While the lives of these scholars are notjeopardized by the actions of our government, the principles ofacademicfreedom certainly are, which is why we made the decision to list their names here. When the expression of ideas is censored it is not only universities that are imperiled, but the veryfoundation of democracy is under­ mined. In this spirit we ask ourreaders tojoin us by sendingpetitions to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice protesting these actions. Should you decide to send a letter ofprotest on behalf of any of the scholars listed here, model letters can be found on our website (www.socres.org/endangeredscholars), along with informa­ tion about scholarspreviously listed in earlier issues. Introduction v ...