UMich committee urges institutional neutrality, shows that leftist views ‘dominate the conversation’
Official university pronouncements on controversial matters ‘[suggest] that those who disagree are unwelcome,’ the report concluded.
‘There is a strong barrier to express criticism of policies related to DEI, antiracism, etc. Such criticisms are often branded as intolerant or racist, and brushed off,’ one respondent said.
A committee at the University of Michigan (UMich) recently recommended that the university adopt institutional neutrality, meaning that the school would not issue official pronouncements on hot-button social or political issues or events.
The report was released on Tuesday by the Committee on the University of Michigan Principles on Diversity of Thought and Freedom of Expression, which is made up of professors, staff, and students.
UMich leaders will now make the decision about whether or not to adopt the report’s recommendations.
“As our political and social climate has grown fractious in recent decades, it has become increasingly common for university leaders or departments to issue statements on social and political developments,” the report explains.
The committee states that “[s]uch institutional statements disserve the University’s mission,” because they harm academic freedom by “suggesting that those who disagree are unwelcome.” These statements also allegedly “cause would-be dissenters to worry that voicing disagreement may jeopardize admission, grades, or advancement.”
The report also attacks such statements on the basis that those who issue them “don’t necessarily have expertise related to the topic at hand;” that the university’s opining on certain issues necessarily leaves out other issues and thus risks alienating community members; and that these statements do not actually do anything to improve campus life.
The committee also concludes that UMich does not have sufficient “diversity of thought,” that leftist opinions generally “dominate the conversation,” and that those with traditionally right-leaning views face “significant pressure to self-censor.”
The report includes results from a survey of more than 4,000 community members.
Comments from the survey include: “There is a strong barrier to express criticism of policies related to DEI, antiracism, etc. Such criticisms are often branded as intolerant or racist, and brushed off,” “I am terrified to express myself on campus. You have broken my trust and it will be difficult for you to regain it,” and “I have to hide my conservative viewpoints, which is extremely isolating.”
UMich is the latest of many universities nationwide to potentially move toward adopting a policy of institutional neutrality.
Schools such as Washington State University, the University of Pennsylvania, Purdue University, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, and Harvard University have adopted similar policies this year.
This trend has occurred following months of disruptive anti-Israel student protests, many of which have called on their universities to divest from Israel and condemn the Jewish state’s counterattack against the terror group Hamas after the Oct. 7 massacre.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Michigan for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
