Letters Archives - American Council of Trustees and Alumni

ACTA Sends Letter to University of Connecticut Board of Trustees

Gabby Anglin — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 20:51:25 +0000

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported that in response to a projected $70 million budget deficit, the University of Connecticut administration has proposed “sweeping” operating budget cuts, across all units, by 15 percent over five years. Connecticut joins West Virginia and Arizona as states whose public flagship universities face stark financial challenges. Read ACTA’s letter to the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees urging them to resist the temptation to attempt to use across-the-board cuts as a shortcut to fiscal sustainability. College and university trustees must be willing to make difficult choices about institutional priorities if they wish to restore public trust in higher education.

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ACTA Sends Letter to Governing Boards Urging the Adoption of an Institutional Neutrality Policy

Gabby Anglin — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 14:48:25 +0000

In February of 2024, ACTA sent a letter to all governing board members at over 1,500 four-year public and private institutions asking that their boards consider adopting a policy of institutional neutrality. The letter states, “Colleges and universities that remain above the political fray can most effectively help students learn how to think, not what to think. A policy of institutional neutrality guards this high purpose of our academic institutions. It also shields them from the consequences of becoming embroiled in political disputes.” A PDF version of the letter can be downloaded here.

Dear Governing Board Member:

For over 28 years, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has helped governing boards promote academic freedom, academic excellence, and accountability at our nation’s colleges and universities.

Today, I write to encourage you to consider adopting a policy of institutional neutrality at your institution. Such a policy, exemplified by the University of Chicago’s Kalven Committee Report of 1967, counsels against taking official institutional positions on current social and political events. It is a bulwark against politicization, and, like the Chicago Principles on Freedom of Expression, signals integrity to students, faculty, and the public.

Colleges and universities that remain above the political fray can most effectively help students learn how to think, not what to think. A policy of institutional neutrality guards this high purpose of our academic institutions. It also shields them from the consequences of becoming embroiled in political disputes.

Institutional neutrality does not mean silence on issues that affect the mission or operations of the university. Nor does it prevent college leaders from articulating their personal views in response to events that violate basic principles of morality and human decency. By avoiding engagement in political disputes, the capacity for appropriate leadership is enhanced.

In the words of the Kalven Report, “The neutrality of the university as an institution arises then not from a lack of courage nor out of indifference and insensitivity. It arises out of respect for free inquiry and the obligation to cherish a diversity of viewpoints.”

We urge you to join the growing movement of universities that have embraced institutional neutrality. We list them on our website, https://www.goacta.org/kalven-report, which also includes sample board resolutions and other resources you will find useful. We are at your service to help in any way we can.

Warm regards,

Michael B. Poliakoff, Ph.D.
President

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ACTA Letter to University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees Regarding Transgenderism

Gabby Anglin — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 16:10:06 +0000

In response to petitions by students at the University of Pittsburgh requesting the university cancel student-sponsored events that included speakers critical of transgenderism, ACTA sent a letter to members of the University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees applauding the university’s support for free speech and free expression and encouraging them to do more to safeguard the free exchange of ideas. In the letter, ACTA President Michael Poliakoff recommended the university increase security for speakers and the venue, record the event and its attendees, and publicize specific, severe consequences for those who would violate the university’s prohibition against disrupting campus events. ACTA maintains that such measures would preemptively prevent the suppression of free speech and encourage respectful, rigorous dialogue about contentious contemporary issues.

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Letter to Cornell University President Martha Pollack

Gabby Anglin — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 16:17:04 +0000

The disruption of Ann Coulter’s speech at Cornell University last week is just the latest sign that diversity of thought is unwelcome on its campus. Cornell says it’s committed to open inquiry and free expression, but, in reality, it suffers from a self-imposed monoculture that encourages self-censorship and conformity. The appropriate response to controversial speech is more speech, not disruptions and shoutdowns that prevent people from sharing their ideas.

ACTA wrote to President Pollack, urging disciplinary actions be taken against students who breached their code of conduct and calling for the adoption of our Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression by Cornell.

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