College Debates and Discourse
ACTA has forged a dynamic partnership with Braver Angels and the student group BridgeUSA to launch a civil debates program for students on college campuses nationwide.
Can Arizona Achieve a Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression?
ACTA’s Arizona Report Card
Arizona’s public universities should be leaders in free expression and diversity of thought, with policies and campus cultures that welcome new ideas and different points of view. In the last several years, they have taken important steps toward this goal, including adopting the Chicago Principles on Freedom of Expression, participating annually in the Regents’ Cup, and discontinuing the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion statements in their faculty hiring processes.
Despite these accomplishments, new research from ACTA’s Campus Freedom Initiative® (CFI) shows Arizona’s public universities have more work to do. In our survey [link] of over 3,000 students at Arizona State University (ASU), Northern Arizona University (NAU), and the University of Arizona (U of A), many respondents say they wish their campuses would guarantee and welcome free expression, but students still report high levels of intellectual intolerance from fellow students and faculty as well as the need to self-censor on a regular basis.
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Recommendations
ACTA Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression™| COMMIT TO A CULTURE OF FREE EXPRESSION | W&M | GMU | UVA | VCU | VT | JMU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adopt the Chicago Principles on Freedom of Expression or a similarly strong statement. | No evidence of W&M adopting the Chicago Principles or a similar statement could be found. | No evidence of VCU adopting the Chicago Principles or a similar statement could be found. | No evidence of JMU adopting the Chicago Principles or a similar statement could be found. | |||
| Establish clear expectations regarding free expression in student, faculty, and staff handbooks and codes of conduct. | VCU’s faculty handbook meets this measure. The university’s student code of conduct does not meet this measure | |||||
| Include a free expression unit in new-student orientations. | Virginia state law requires public universities to offer such training. No materials showing UVA’s compliance could be found. Requests to university officials for such materials remain unanswered. | Virginia state law requires public universities to offer such training. No materials showing VCU’s compliance could be found. Requests to university officials for such materials remain unanswered. | ||||
| Protect the diversity of political viewpoints by adopting an institutional neutrality policy such as the Kalven Committee Report. | No evidence of W&M adopting an institutional neutrality policy could be found. The university’s policy on leadership communication is insufficient to meet this measure. | No evidence of VT adopting an institutional neutrality policy could be found. | No evidence of JMU adopting an institutional neutrality policy could be found. | |||
| FOSTER CIVIL DISCOURSE | W&M | GMU | UVA | VCU | VT | JMU |
| Sponsor campus debates that model civil discourse. | No evidence showing that VCU regularly sponsors such events could be found. | No evidence showing VT regularly sponsors such events could be found. | JMU has offered programming consistent with this measure in the past, but such programming does not appear to be active and ongoing. | |||
| Encourage the establishment of student groups promoting free expression. | No evidence that such groups exist at VCU could be found. There is a clear ideological imbalance in VCU’s student groups. | |||||
| Protect the rights of invited speakers and listeners to engage with controversial ideas. | VCU’s policies meet this measure. VCU’s actions—for example, concerning the 2023 disruption of Kristan Hawkins—do not meet this measure. | |||||
| Establish and enforce consequences that deter disruption of sponsored speakers, events, and classes. | UVA has policies that meet the establishment component of this measure, yet the university’s handling of an encampment in 2024 failed to meet the enforcement component of this measure. Reports indicate UVA might be reaching an agreement with the federal government over allegations of antisemitic harassment on campus. This measure will be reassessed when the federal government’s findings become public. | |||||
| Cultivate Intellectual Diversity | W&M | GMU | UVA | VCU | VT | JMU |
| Encourage presidents, provosts, and deans to model respect for a broad range of viewpoints. | ||||||
| Guarantee that viewpoint diversity is reflected in student life policies and practices. | No evidence that meets this measure could be found. The Residence Life department emphasizes DEI in its mission and values. | VCU’s student life policies contain elements that could undermine free speech and viewpoint diversity. | Some VT materials contain language likely to chill speech and expression of different views. | JMU’s student life policies contain elements that undermine free speech and viewpoint diversity. | ||
| Support academic centers dedicated to free inquiry and intellectual diversity. | No evidence of W&M supporting such centers could be found. | No evidence of GMU supporting such centers could be found. | No evidence of VCU supporting such centers could be found. | No evidence of VT supporting such centers could be found. | ||
| Make intellectual diversity a stated goal in faculty hiring, evaluation, and promotion. | There is no evidence of a university-wide effort at W&M on these issues. | There is no evidence of a university-wide effort at GMU on these issues. The university is under investigation for allegedly engaging in illegal discrimination in faculty hiring. | There is no evidence of a university-wide effort at UVA on these issues. | There is no evidence of a university-wide effort at VCU on these issues. | There is no evidence of a university-wide effort at VT on these issues. | There is no evidence of a university-wide effort at JMU on these issues. |
| Break Down Barriers to Free Expression | W&M | GMU | UVA | VCU | VT | JMU |
| Eliminate speech and IT policies that have a chilling effect on free expression. | Policies related to this measure have elements likely to chill free expression. | Policies related to this measure have elements likely to chill free expression. | ||||
| Ensure that Title IX and other disciplinary procedures do not infringe on free expression. | ||||||
| Disband bias response teams. | Administrators have discussed disbanding GMU’s bias response team, but no action has been taken. | |||||
| Review student government policies to ensure viewpoint neutrality in student group recognition and funding. | There is no evidence W&M has discriminated against student groups on the basis of viewpoint, but no clear statement prohibiting such discrimination could be found. | No evidence that meets this measure could be found. GMU is gathering materials to facilitate further analysis of this measure. | There is no evidence UVA has discriminated against student groups on the basis of viewpoint, but no clear statements prohibiting such discrimination could be found in our research or in materials supplied by university officials. | Policies contain no explicit requirement to uphold viewpoint neutrality. The narrow ideological range of VCU student groups raises questions about this measure. | No materials showing VT’s compliance could be found. Requests to university officials for such materials remain unanswered. | There is no evidence JMU has discriminated against student groups on the basis of viewpoint, but no clear statement prohibiting such discrimination could be found. |
| Advance Leadership Accountability | W&M | GMU | UVA | VCU | VT | JMU |
| Incorporate explicit policies of free expression in governance bylaws and other key institutional documents. | Evidence that GMU meets this measure is insufficient. | Evidence that UVA meets this measure is insufficient. | No substantive evidence meeting this measure could be found in VCU’s bylaws, mission statements, or current strategic plan. | Evidence that VT meets this measure is insufficient. | No substantive evidence that meets this measure could be found in JMU’s bylaws, mission statements, or current strategic plan. | |
| Include a commitment to free expression as a criterion for presidential searches and evaluations. | No such commitment was made during W&M’s most recent presidential search. A commitment to “diversity and inclusion” was listed as the most important qualification. | In its most recent presidential search, GMU identifies freedom of expression and thought as university values, but it does not include a commitment to these values in the description of the minimum qualifications for a successful candidate. In contrast, the minimum qualifications do include a commitment to DEI. | No such commitment was made during UVA’s most recently completed presidential search. | No such commitment was made during VCU’s most recent presidential search. | No such commitment was made during VT’s most recent presidential search. | No such commitment was made during JMU’s most recent presidential search. Promoting “a diverse and inclusive community” was described as a key priority in that search. |
| Require free expression and viewpoint diversity training for administrative staff. | No evidence that meets this measure could be found. GMU is gathering materials to facilitate further analysis of this measure. | No materials showing UVA meets this measure could be found. Requests to university officials for such materials remain unanswered. | Contact with VCU staff indicates no such training is offered. | Contact with VT staff indicates no such training is offered. | No evidence that meets this measure could be found. | |
| Conduct regular evaluations of the state of free expression and intellectual diversity on campus. | No evidence that GMU conducts this type of research could be found. | No evidence that UVA conducts this type of research could be found. | No evidence that VCU conducts this type of research could be found. | No evidence that VT conducts this type of research could be found. | No evidence that JMU conducts this type of research could be found. |
CAMPUS EXPERIENCE SURVEY: An Assessment of Arizona University Students
The latest Free Expression Annual Report by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) explains, “The Arizona Board of Regents and university leadership strive to protect intellectual freedom and free expression at Arizona’s public universities.” Both ABOR and Arizona’s public universities have adopted important policies aligned with this vision for campus freedom, but, as the following report ACTA and College Pulse shows, more work is needed to provide a culture of free expression for Arizona’s public university students.
View Survey Results45
%of ASU students report not speaking up at least once a month because they think their opinions will be unwelcome.
62
%of NAU students believe professors who say things students find offensive should be reported to the university.
42
%of UA students believe it is more important for colleges to prohibit offensive speech than to expose students to all types of viewpoints.
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