PodcastsInstitutional Neutrality
Tony Banout and Tom Ginsburg: Why Institutional Neutrality Matters
Tony Banout, Executive Director, and Tom Ginsburg, Faculty Director of the University of Chicago's New Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression...
Re “Brandeis Cancels Plan to Give Honorary Degree to Rights Advocate, a Critic of Islam” (news article, April 9):
Justice Louis D. Brandeis would be turning over in his grave. The university named after the former Supreme Court justice has illustrated the depths of small-minded bigotry and intolerance that now represent the culture on many campuses.
In rescinding an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Brandeis University has abandoned academic freedom and responsibility. Disinviting a controversial figure for fear of student backlash and upset sensitivities sends a perverse message that a college education must never dare offend.
How ironic that it was Justice Brandeis himself who understood that the essence of the free exchange of ideas—something to which virtually all universities nominally adhere—is “to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies,” not by “enforced silence.”
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni has been watching the spectacle of “disinvitation season,” when universities cave in to the loudest bullies.
We call on the Brandeis trustees in particular and higher education leaders everywhere to withstand this trend and to stand firm in defense of the free exchange of ideas—the essence of a liberal education.
Tony Banout, Executive Director, and Tom Ginsburg, Faculty Director of the University of Chicago's New Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression...
In February of 2024, ACTA sent a letter to all governing board members at over 1,500 four-year public and private institutions asking that their boards consider adopting a policy of institutional neutrality. The letter states, "Colleges and universities that remain above the political fray can most effectively help students learn how to think, not what to think.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) today opened a new front in its Campus Freedom Initiative by launching a nationwide campaign urging American institutions of higher education to adopt and enforce policies of strict institutional neutrality.
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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