Multiple universities announce policies to protect academic freedom, limit political statements
The University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University and Washington State University all rolled out new institutional neutrality policies this week, while Yale University announced it will consider approving one.
In an announcement Tuesday, University of Pennsylvania Interim President J. Larry Jameson unveiled an institutional neutrality statement titled “Upholding Academic Independence.”
The university “will refrain from institutional statements made in response to local and world events except for those which have direct and significant bearing on University functions,” according to the statement.
“It is not the role of the institution to render opinions—doing so risks suppressing the creativity and academic freedom of our faculty and students,” it reads.
University leaders have increasingly issued public statements on external events in recent years, primarily aiming to offer “acknowledgment and solidarity” in response to tragic or challenging situations, Jameson stated.
“Although well-meaning, these institutional messages fundamentally compete with the free and unencumbered creation and expression of ideas by individuals,” he said.
Similarly, Stanford’s Board of Trustees approved a resolution reaffirming the university’s “commitment to free inquiry” and “the open exchange of ideas,” according to a Tuesday news release, in which the board threw its official support behind a Faculty Senate resolution, approved in May, against the university taking stands on political issues.
“Board of Trustees … reaffirms the principles of academic freedom and the avoidance of institutional orthodoxy, and furthermore commends the Faculty Senate for its recent adoption of the Statement on Freedom of Expression at Stanford and Institutional Statements Policy,” the resolution states.
The May adoption of faculty’s Statement of Freedom of Expression and Institutional Statements Policy reads in part: “When speaking for the institution, Stanford University leaders and administrators should not express an opinion on political and social controversies.”
Washington State University also announced a new institutional neutrality policy in a news release Monday.
“Taking an institutional stance on controversial issues risks shutting down debate and limiting the free exchange of ideas. Our role as a university is to foster discussion, not stifle it,” the policy states.
However, it provides for exceptions in which an issue “directly impacts the broad university community.”
Yale also joined the discussion, announcing Tuesday that the university’s new president, Maurie McInnis, has assembled a committee of seven professors to consider the adoption of an institutional neutrality policy at the school, Yale Daily News reported.
The committee plans to hold “in-person listening sessions” and has launched an online platform to receive input from the university’s students, faculty, and staff.
“One topic has emerged as top of mind for many people in our community: the question of when Yale, as an institution, speaks on issues of the day,” McInnis wrote in an email to students and staff.
“I have asked the committee to examine when the university, or those speaking on its behalf, should comment on matters of public significance,” she stated.
Last year, over 150 Yale faculty members formed a group called Faculty for Yale, advocating for institutional neutrality. Meanwhile, more than 200 faculty members signed a letter opposing this stance, arguing that neutrality would “destroy academic freedoms” and dictate what the school can teach.
These schools follow in the footsteps of Harvard, USC, Purdue and Johns Hopkins University, as well as the entire University of Texas system, which implemented institutional neutrality policies over the summer.
Moreover, the University of North Carolina System implemented an institutional neutrality policy in May, requiring its 17 campuses to refrain from engaging in political or social issues in compliance with state law, the News & Observer reported.
MORE: Institutional neutrality implemented at USC, Purdue, Johns Hopkins, U. Texas system
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