A committee of faculty members from across the University of Chicago was convened by President Robert J. Zimmer and Provost Eric D. Isaacs, chaired by Geoffrey Stone, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law. They were charged with crafting a statement “articulating the University’s overarching commitment to free, robust, and uninhibited debate and deliberation among all members of the University’s community.” This report reflects the University of Chicago’s commitment to and tolerance of multiple forms of free expression, an important value of the University and its community. ACTA has long recognized the value of this statement and has worked tirelessly to ensure other institutions enact the Chicago Principles or similar policies.
This guide for trustees reports on the dangerous decline of academic freedom and intellectual diversity on college campuses. The foreword, by Benno Schmidt, chairman of the CUNY Board of Trustees and former president of Yale, comes at a time when duly-invited graduation speakers are made unwelcome, campus speech codes threaten the free exchange of ideas, […]
ACTA’s new guide for higher education trustees, Guarding the Freedom to Speak, Freedom to Hear by Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm of the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, provides best practices to boards of trustees for securing intellectual freedom on the American college campus. It couldn’t have come a moment too soon. Since 2016 […]
Polarizing political beliefs are nothing new on campus, but the tactics employed by supporters of the BDS movement create new cause for concern, from the politicization of curricula and academic associations to efforts to silence Israeli speakers to overtly anti-Semitic behavior on campus. In a new essay, ACTA renews its call for the protection of […]
Sigal Ben-Porath’s Inside Higher Ed article, Against Endorsing the Chicago Principles, puts the urgent need for uncompromised freedom of expression on a slippery slope. While properly observing that espousing even a clear statement of commitment is insufficient, Ben-Porath rejects the idea of its absolute necessity and thereby risks entirely derailing mainstream efforts to protect free speech […]
Andrew Hartman’s argument in his March 18 Outlook essay, “There is no campus crisis, there are only aggrieved customers,” foundered in the face of data and facts. A 2016 Gallup survey revealed that 27 percent of college students deem it acceptable to censor political speech if they “are upsetting or offensive to certain groups.” Results […]
Common gumption would dictate that colleges and universities foster environments that promote “free and open inquiry in all matters,” and guarantee “the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn.” Too many higher education administrators today, however, are afraid to endorse such principles, principles clearly articulated in what is known as the “Chicago Statement.” These […]
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