The College Fix

Free speech expert raises concerns about many of the proposals

The University of Pennsylvania should monitor the language of course syllabi and spend more money on DEI programming, according to the results of a “white paper” by a student committee.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Student Committee on Undergraduate Education’s 64-page document calls for increasing funding for, “greater diversity in faculty hiring, course creation, and research funding,” implementing “more stringent mechanisms to promote the use of inclusive language,” and filling roles for “social justice educators.”

Among the “stringent mechanisms” is a demand that new courses include specific language about “[first-generation low-income] LGBTQ+, and other minority students.”

The university should also make it easier for students to “report instances of discrimination by faculty” – but the students note the current bias reporting system can be amended to make it easier.

They also propose student “end-of-semester reviews” ask “about a professor’s ability to create an inclusive learning environment and the presence of microaggressions in the classroom.”

The reforms suggested were developed after research through surveys, discussions, focus groups, and meetings with students, faculty, and administrators over the past three years.

“Committee members research and bring forth the most crucial and impactful improvements we want to enact,” the paper states.

The College Fix reached out twice via email to both the internal and external chairs of the committee for comment but has not received a response in the past several weeks.

The Fix also reached out to UPenn’s director of media relations via email and phone but has not received a response. However, the university has begun scrubbing DEI language from its websites and the titles of employees, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian. The removal, whether substantial or cosmetic, appears related to the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI.

A free speech expert with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression criticized some of the proposals in an email to The Fix.

“Universities run afoul of First Amendment principles when they use DEI as a cudgel to restrict free speech, abridge academic freedom, or establish an orthodoxy in higher ed that crowds out opposing ideas,” Program Officer Ross Marchand told The Fix.

“These actions are particularly problematic when universities attempt to censor views they don’t like or compel certain ideology-based messaging as a condition of hiring, tenure, or academic success,” he said.

“Professors,” the white paper argues, “should actively foster spaces where all students are excited to learn through inclusive syllabus policy and content diversification.”

However, this could “restrict, chill, or compel speech,” according to Marchand.

“Faculty would feel pressure to self-censor with an eye toward satisfying administrators rather than focusing on accurately and effectively teaching their students,” he said.

“Applying belief-based litmus tests to course instruction impinges on faculty members’ scholarly autonomy and freedom to dissent on issues of public or academic concern without suffering diminished career prospects,” he also said.

Marchand cautioned about the paper’s idea to have end-of-semester reviews ask about “microaggressions.”

“This system would effectively penalize professors for having unpopular political views, which may be considered ‘microaggressions’ by certain students,” the FIRE program officer said.

“Faculty members should be judged by administrators based on their teaching abilities and adherence to university academic and behavioral policies, not fealty to a set of ideological beliefs,” he said.

The white paper also covers issues such as mental health and artificial intelligence, as well as community engagement in West Philadelphia.

MORE: ‘Truth About Transgenderism’ event prompts protest, power outage

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A screenshot of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education report’s title page; Student Committee on Undergraduate Education

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter