We are pleased to announce the formation of the Princeton Council on Academic Freedom, a faculty group devoted to promoting academic freedom and fostering intellectual pluralism at Princeton.

    Princeton University has a long history of robust commitment to academic freedom for all members of our university community. The University Principles of General Conduct set out “free and open inquiry in all matters” as a necessary condition for the university’s core institutional mission: “the pursuit of truth, the discovery of new knowledge through scholarship and research, the teaching and general development of students, and the transmission of knowledge and learning to society at large.” We believe that the faculty has a crucial role to play in supporting and upholding the university’s ongoing commitment to these core principles and in nurturing a culture of thoughtful, respectful, and academically rigorous discourse at Princeton.

    We seek to help ensure that both faculty and students enjoy the greatest possible latitude to examine, debate, and disagree about any subject they consider worth exploring. To allow such freedom of inquiry and expression to flourish, we believe the university, from its administration down to its individual departments and programs, should refrain from taking positions on political and social questions that do not directly bear on the university’s core functions. We therefore urge Princeton to join the rapidly growing number of universities who have adopted a policy of institutional neutrality. Of course, institutional neutrality does not mean that individual members of the University community must suppress their views. On the contrary, a policy of neutrality allows for more speech, not less, because it avoids the inevitable discouragement of free expression and scholarly inquiry that occurs whenever institutions take positions on behalf of individuals who hold a diverse set of views. We support the right of all members of the Princeton community to express any First-Amendment protected opinion they wish, as long as they do so as individuals and do not claim to speak either for the university as a whole or for any unit within the university (e.g., departments or programs).

    Institutional neutrality is one safeguard of academic freedom, but it is not the only one. Reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on public speech are necessary not only for the university to function, but also to ensure the free speech rights of every member of the Princeton community. The exercise of free speech by students and faculty must not impede the teaching and inquiry at the heart of the university’s mission. Thus, free speech should never be understood as a right to prevent others from either expressing their own points of view or pursuing avenues of research and teaching they deem worthwhile, whether by shouting them down or through other forms of intimidation. It also goes without saying that the university must impose such restrictions consistently, without regard to content and in a way that leaves ample alternative ways for members of the university community to express themselves. By the same token, the council opposes efforts by government to restrict First Amendment-protected speech by members of Princeton’s community or to seek to impose additional limits on research and teaching on purely political or ideological grounds.

    While we broadly support these basic principles, we also recognize that academic freedom is not a self-evident concept. What such freedom should entail in practice, where its limits lie, and how to adjudicate among competing claims to academic freedom are all complicated questions. The Council aims to serve as a forum for thoughtful discussion and debate about these questions.

    As part of our mission to demonstrate the mutually reinforcing values of academic freedom and intellectual pluralism, the Council on Academic Freedom also hopes to generate opportunities for discussion and debate across viewpoints more generally. We aim to help promote an intellectual culture in which colleagues who may deeply disagree can nevertheless address each other’s work in a spirit of curiosity, open-mindedness, and mutual respect. To that end, the council will seek to secure support for an annual event designed to showcase exemplary engagement with scholarship on a contentious subject.

    We invite all members of the university faculty, of any rank, in all divisions, and of all political persuasions, to join the Council as members and help us in our efforts to support academic freedom and to cultivate a culture of intellectual pluralism and tolerance at Princeton.