The Chicago Principles
The Chicago Principles articulate the importance of free expression as an essential feature of the university.
Free Your Campus,
Free Your Mind
Free expression is the necessary precondition for the unfettered search for truth on the college campus.
Learn how to build a culture of free expression at your institution through ACTA’s Campus Freedom Initiative™.
What does a culture of free expression look like?
See why this matters and how you can be part of the solution.
Campus
Campaigns
ACTA encourages all colleges and universities in America to take the actions listed in our Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression. In our campus campaigns, we analyze the policies and practices of specific schools using the Gold Standard and recommend next steps they should take to better support a culture of free expression and intellectual diversity on their campuses.
ACTA’s Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression™
Below are actions you can take to build a culture of free expression on your campus.
Commit to a Culture of Free Expression
- Adopt the Chicago Principles on Freedom of Expression or a similarly strong statement.
- Establish clear expectations regarding free expression in student and faculty handbooks and codes of conduct.
- Include a free expression unit in new-student orientations.
- Protect the diversity of political viewpoints by adopting an institutional neutrality policy such as the Kalven Report.
Foster Civil Discourse
- Sponsor campus debates that model civil discourse.
- Promote free expression by encouraging the establishment of student groups devoted to free expression, civil discourse, or representing a plurality of perspectives.
- Establish policies that protect free expression rights on campus and set clear consequences for disruption of sponsored speakers, events, and classes.
- Enforce policies that protect free expression rights on campus and apply clear consequences for disruption of sponsored speakers, events, and classes.
Cultivate Intellectual Diversity
- 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.
- Support academic centers dedicated to free inquiry and intellectual diversity.
- Ensure faculty hiring, evaluation, and promotion processes are based on merit and make clear that the institution is open to intellectual diversity.
Break Down Barriers to Free Expression
- Eliminate speech and IT policies that have a chilling effect on free expression.
- Ensure that enforcement of Title VI, Title VII, and Title IX does not infringe on free expression.
- Disband bias response teams.
- Review student government policies to ensure viewpoint neutrality in student group recognition and funding.
Advance Leadership Accountability
- Include commitments to free expression in mission statements, values statements, strategic plans, and other key institutional documents.
- Include a commitment to free expression as a criterion in searches and evaluations for presidents, provosts, and deans.
- Require free expression and viewpoint diversity training for administrative staff.
- Conduct regular surveys or other quantitative studies of students and faculty to assess the state of free expression and intellectual diversity on campus.
On This Date in Campus Freedom
Experts on Freedom of Expression
Dr. Steve McGuire: Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Dr. Steve McGuire: Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Dr. Dorian Abbot
Dr. Dorian Abbot
Associate Professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago
Stuart Taylor, Jr.
Stuart Taylor, Jr.
ACTA Board Member, Co-Founder of the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, and President of Princetonians for Free Speech
RECENT
DEVELOPMENTS
ACTA | March 14, 2024 by American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Real Clear Education | October 20, 2023 by Marc Zvi Brettler & Michael B. Poliakoff
Washington Examiner | September 29, 2023 by Steven McGuire
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Launched in 1995, we are the only organization that works with alumni, donors, trustees, and education leaders across the United States to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives an intellectually rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price.
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