A select campus group is awarding members of the ISU community for speaking their minds.

The Constructive Critics Awards will be given out at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. John’s Episcopal Church and Student Center, 2338 Lincoln Way. The awards are given by the Committee on the State of Iowa State in recognition of individuals in the Ames and ISU community who have worked toward accomplishing the committee’s goal “to help Iowa State University offer a broad, balanced academic program and to encourage robust dialogue on the campus,” said Bill Kunerth, professor emeritus of journalism and mass communication and a founder of the committee.

“We feel there’s a real need for that in the Iowa State community because there isn’t enough,” he said. “Particularly those persons who criticize the administration because we’ve been concerned about it for several years.”

Max Porter, professor of civil and construction engineering, said he thinks the awards are an important part of the ISU community because they help in the “protection of academic freedom and the protection of the right to tell the truth from research.”

Kunerth said Porter has been an important leader during his 25 years on the Faculty Senate. “He’s always been quite direct in raising important issues before the Faculty Senate,” Kunerth said. “In recent years he’s been particularly concerned about protecting academic freedom of professors who do sponsored research. He’s very concerned that [corporate sponsors] may try to influence the research.”

Virginia Allen, associate professor of English, said she was surprised to receive the award and feels “abashed” about it.

“This is not the sort of `recognition’ that one sets out to achieve,” she said. “Usually we are driven to outspokenness and public criticism of our leaders only after all other avenues have been closed to us.”