We Kicked Up a Hornets Nest. Keep Kicking!
Just two months ago, we sent out our intro piece to a series titled There’s Something Wrong in Higher Education.
We wrote at the time, “We don’t know where it will lead. But we do know that higher education has lost its way. Hopefully, by talking about it, we can begin to sort out how to return higher education to its rightful place: open, inquisitive, and unafraid.”
We kicked up a hornets nest. The response from you and others was overwhelming – and lopsided.
It turns out there’s still a visceral opposition to universities requiring faculty and prospective students to profess their adherence to an ideology in order to gain admission or advance their careers.
That gives us great hope for the future of intellectual freedom, especially because that opposition has already translated into action.
The UNC System Board of Governors last month proposed a policy to ban compelled speech in support of a particular cause or ideology in faculty hiring or promotion decisions and student admissions.
“We cannot condition employment or enrollment on adherence to any set of beliefs, no matter how well intended,” UNC System President Peter Hans said in support of the new policy.
And UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees proposed a new School of Civic Life and Leadership intended to end “political constraints on what can be taught in university classes.”
But moves to advance intellectual freedom have been met with opposition by some professors and media.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s “chair of the university faculty” said she found the effort “deeply upsetting and unsettling.”
And despite the examples we’ve offered in recent months, the News & Observer and Charlotte Observer editorial board said moves to defend intellectual freedom are “a solution in search of problem.” They called conservatives “snowflakes” and said the policy proposals are covert efforts to “own the libs.”
(See below for a fuller rundown of recent coverage, courtesy of UNC’s School of Journalism.)
University policies that impact intellectual freedom are rightfully under a microscope. We’ll continue what we started: Pointing out examples of intellectual rigidity at UNC System schools that are cause for concern.
Keep an eye out for Episode Six next week, which will examine N.C. State’s requirement for prospective students to submit a DEI statement on their admissions application. A popular, nonpolitical podcast helping guide parents and students through university admissions called N.C. State’s prompt “the loudest, most vocal, bold, even brazen” requirement of any college in the country.
Press Coverage of the Battle for Intellectual Freedom at UNC System Schools:
UNC Takes on the University Echo Chamber by the Editorial Board at the Wall Street Journal (Jan. 26)
At UNC, conservatives claim they’re oppressed, so they’re oppressing the faculty by the Editorial Board at the Raleigh News & Observer (Feb. 1)
UNC trustees’ push for ‘School of Civic Life and Leadership’ alarms some faculty by Susan Svrluga in The Washington Post (Feb. 1)
UNC faculty, student leaders caught off guard as new Trustees-backed School of Civic Life by Michael Perchick in ABC11 Raleigh-Durham (Feb. 1)
ACTA Lauds UNC Board of Trustees for Bold Commitment to Civic Values, Freedom of Expression, and Intellectual Diversity on Campus by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (Jan. 30)
UNC forms school of civic life and leadership to provide ‘equal opportunity’ for students: David Boliek in Fox News Video (Feb. 1)
UNC looking to counter 'woke' campuses with new school: Creating a 'level playing field' by Madeline Coggins in Fox Business (Feb. 2)
UNC Chapel Hill trustees vote unanimously to establish School of Civic Life and Leadership by Talia Barnes in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
‘I’m flabbergasted’: UNC leaders blindsided by trustees' decision on School of Civic Life and Leadership by Abby Pender in the Daily Tar Heel (Jan. 30)
Faculty discusses free speech and School of Civic Life in January meeting by Emi Maerz in the Daily Tar Heel (Jan. 31)
How not to start a new School of Civic Life at UNC-Chapel Hill by Buck Goldstein and William Snider in the Raleigh News & Observer (Feb. 2)
One giant leap for free speech at UNC Chapel Hill by Frank Hill in The North State Journal (Feb. 4)
Are diversity statements a threat to academic freedom? in The Economist (Feb. 3)
