University of Southern California adopts institutional 'restraint' and 'neutrality' policy
The University of Southern California has adopted a policy of institutional neutrality when it comes to social, political and moral issues.
The University of Southern California has adopted a policy of institutional neutrality regarding social, political and moral issues.
Administrators at USC announced the change in a message to the campus community on Tuesday, alongside the announcement of other policy changes.
Among the changes, USC administrators said the institution will no longer be taking sides on certain issues.
”Universities and their leaders often are asked to take sides on political, social, and moral issues. Yet, such statements can silence people, be seen as speaking for everyone, and lead to unintended consequences and seeming orthodoxies that stifle people’s rights of free speech,” the administrators wrote.
”In line with these ideas, going forward as individual leaders or on behalf of the university, we will not post statements or take sides in political or social debates unless it pertains directly to our institutional mission and operations. This posture, sometimes referred to as ‘institutional restraint or neutrality,’ has been widely adopted by both public and private universities across America,” they further explained.
Additionally, USC administrators said in the message that they would “continue to enforce” policies surrounding time, place, and manner rules for Free Expression ”fairly, consistently, and expeditiously.”
