On University Values

At our recent event on the Kalven Report, Cathy Cohen called for the creation of “a document that delineates our values.” That report and subsequent “Chicago Principles” statement (2014) valorize freedom of inquiry and expression but crucially fail to recognize that some have more power—and thus freedom to speak—than others and that free speech can come at the cost of inclusion. Institutional neutrality and a commitment to openness alone are not sufficient to maintain a space in which all students and faculty enjoy “a lively and fearless freedom of debate and deliberation.”

In the face of unprecedented challenges to higher education, what kind of practices and atmospheres should we as a community be cultivating to both protect free inquiry and minimize harm?  Can the classroom or the university environment be both safe and uncomfortable as part of the process of learning? Are diversity and equity as essential as free speech in the production of knowledge? How might these goals be compatible, and how might they be in tension? What kinds of commitments should we be affirming and struggling to enact? And what forms of governance, infrastructure, or other initiatives would serve such efforts?

Please join us for a conversation with Anton Ford, Gabriel Lear, and Gina E. Miranda Samuels as they discuss how we might define the values that shape our work and identify those that we need to incorporate into campus culture more fully.