5 universities that adopted 'institutional neutrality' in 2024
Following a year of disruptive campus protests, schools increasingly refrain from taking sides on controversial issues.
Harvard's new policy will 'err on the side of avoiding official statements.'
As Campus Reform continues to cover the radical left’s dominance in higher education, some institutions are now refraining from taking official stands on controversial issues.
Here are five colleges and universities that have implemented “institutional neutrality” policies in 2024.
1. UPenn adopts official institutional neutrality following turbulent period of anti-Israel protests
The University of Pennsylvania will no longer officially comment as an institution on potentially hot button controversial topics, Interim President J. Larry Jameson recently announced.
2. Washington State University implements institutional neutrality policy
Washington State University announced it has instituted a policy of institutional neutrality and will not comment on most political or social issues.
The Pullman, Washington institution made the announcement in September, explaining it would only comment on such issues in “rare circumstances.”
The Board of Regents for the University of Texas system recently revised its official policy to forbid campuses within the system from officially promoting stances on political or social issues that are not directly tied to university dealings.
“Institutions should not, in their official capacity, issue or express positions on issues of the day, however appealing they may be to some members of the university community,” the new policy states.
Cornell University announced it would no longer make statements on social or political issues that have no direct impact on the school’s operations.
University administrators outlined in a Tuesday statement that Cornell’s “President and Provost will refrain from opining on national or global events that do not directly impact the university.”
Regents for the University of California voted to ban university homepages from containing political opinions after concerns of anti-Israel content were raised.
The policy, which took effect on July 17, allows political opinions to be posted elsewhere on the university’s website except homepages of specific departments, academic units, or divisions, according to the Los Angeles Times.