'The university's purpose is not political action or social justice,' new Stanford prez declares
Jonathan Levin, an economist, said the school’s ‘fundamental purpose’ is ‘discovery and learning,’ and that ‘the university’s purpose is not political action or social justice.’
Levin’s statements come after a turbulent time for Stanford that saw several anti-Israel protests.
Stanford’s new president, Jonathan Levin, gave an inaugural speech in which he stated that “the university’s purpose is not political action or social justice.”
In his speech delivered Friday, Levin said that Stanford’s “North Star” is “our fundamental purpose of discovery and learning.” He said that the school exists to “create and share knowledge, and to prepare students to be curious, to think critically, to flourish, and to contribute to the world.”
Though he claimed that the school’s leadership expects the Stanford community to “wrestle with social and political issues,” he clarified that “the university’s purpose is not political action or social justice.”
Instead, Stanford’s purpose is “to create an environment in which learning thrives.”
Continuing, Levin stated that the university should strive to “foster searching discussion, to listen with curiosity, and to ensure the freedom of members of the university to study and learn,” which he promised will be “goals I will work toward as president.”
Stanford’s previous president, Richard Saller, stepped down July 31 following a turbulent several months that saw the California school rocked by several protests.
On June 16, protesters at the school disrupted the graduation ceremony to demonstrate their disapproval of what anti-Israel activists see as Stanford’s “complicity in the ongoing genocide”--that is, Israel’s campaign against the terrorist group, Hamas. The protesters left the commencement during Saller’s speech and held a separate so-called “people’s commencement.”
A few weeks before, activists took over Stanford’s president’s office on June 5 after vandalizing parts of the campus with graffitied messages like “Death 2 US” and “Kill Cops.” The protesters were part of an anti-Israel tent encampment at the school that was started on April 25 and lasted for roughly a month and a half before being dismantled.
Following the protests, Stanford announced on Sept. 18 a new policy to stop future protests from becoming disruptive. The new policy, among other measures, effectively bans tent encampments.
On May 30, Stanford also adopted a policy of institutional neutrality, stating: “When speaking for the institution, Stanford University leaders and administrators should not express an opinion on political and social controversies, unless these matters directly affect the mission of the university or implicate its legal obligations.”
Levin is an economist who was previously the Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business at Stanford. He has a PhD in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.Phil in Economics that he obtained from Oxford University.
Campus Reform has reached out to Stanford University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
