SAR Press Release:

Duke University joins the Scholars at Risk Network

SAR-PR-04-06, July 28, 2004

New York, NY - Scholars at Risk (SAR) has added Duke University to its growing network membership which strengthens SAR's ability to promote academic freedom and to defend the human rights of scholars worldwide.

Duke University brings Network membership to a total of 90 universities and colleges. "Duke is a welcome addition to our growing network," said Rob Quinn, director of Scholars at Risk. By joining the Network, "Duke not only supports our mission of promoting academic freedom but reinforces its long history of offering assistance to threatened scholars," said Quinn.

Duke University was one of the first universities in the 1930s to assist displaced scholars at a time when thousands of scholars and intellectuals were fleeing the racist and totalitarian regimes in Europe and seeking refuge abroad.

During the 1930s, Duke employed six displaced scholars, some with the assistance of the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars in New York. Those scholars were renowned psychologist William Stern, Walter Kempner who became well-known for his "rice diet," social scientist Herbert von Beckerath, and three physicists including Hertha Sponer and Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim and the esteemed Fritz London.

"We are deeply grateful to Provost Peter Lange and his colleagues at Duke for their generous support and commitment to promoting academic freedom, and we look forward to working with them in the future to assist threatened scholars," said Quinn.

Currently, Duke University is preparing for a conference on "Risky Knowledge" to be held from Sept 24-25. The conference is organized by Duke University's Franklin Humanities Institute and co-sponsored by Scholars at Risk. Academics, human rights experts and formerly threatened scholars and intellectuals will participate. "We are very excited about this event--it is an excellent opportunity to increase our understanding of threats facing academics," said Quinn.

"We are so grateful to Duke and in particular the Franklin Humanities Institute for inviting us to participate and organizing this timely and important discussion," said Quinn.

Scholars at Risk is an international network of 90 universities and colleges working to promote academic freedom and to defend the human rights of scholars worldwide. Scholars at Risk's primary activity is to arrange short-term, emergency visits in the US and abroad for scholars like who suffer because of their work, prominence, or exercise of their basic human rights. For more information, please contact Scholars at Risk at (212) 998 - 2179 or by email at

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