The University of California University Committee on Academic Freedom (UCAF) has sent a
letter
to the Academic Council supporting the
ability of academic departments on campus to issue, or endorse,
statements on political issues in the name of the department
.
The UCAF letter to the Academic Council states:
Academic Council has requested recommendations from the University Committee on Academic Freedom (UCAF) regarding the ability of academic departments on campus to issue, or endorse, statements on political issues in the name of the department. We have given the matter a great deal of thought, consulted with colleagues on the campus academic freedom committees as well as general counsel at UCOP, and conducted our own research. Our conclusion is that, while such statements are sometimes ill-advised and have the potential to chill or intimidate minority views, departments should not be precluded from issuing or endorsing statements, so long as a) such statements make clear that they are not intended to represent the views of the University as a whole and b) allowances are made for minority views to be expressed in some reasonable fashion.
I have prepared a
letter formally opposing this change in policy,
for a number of reasons fully described in the letter.
I encourage all University of California faculty members, including emeriti/ae and non-Senate faculty, to
sign this letter if they, like me, support freedom of speech for individual faculty but
still agree that
[t]he name, insignia, seal, or address
(including the electronic address) of the University
or any of its offices or units shall not be used for or in connection with religious, political, business
or other purposes or activities.
We encourage all University of California faculty who oppose this proposal to sign the letter. We encourage non-Senate faculty to sign as well, since you would be greatly affected by the proposed change. You can add your name to the letter by filling in this Google form.
The letter is due to the Academic Senate office by March 22, 2022. I plan to send the letter to the Academic Senate on March 17th. The letter was sent to the Academic Senate office on March 17th. However, you may still add your name to the letter; this may be helpful if the Academic Council endorses the proposal and we need to continue to fight against the UCAF proposal.
These are articles about this effort by third parties. Neither I nor any signatory endorses these articles, their content, or their authors; they're listed here for information only. If you know of other articles, please let me know and I'll link them here as well.