(Amended 6/4/21)
Effective June 4, 2021, this policy has been revised. For the most current version without redlining, return to III-15.6.
As a member of the community, the faculty member has the rights and obligations of any citizen. These include the right to organize and join political or other associations, convene and conduct public meetings and publicize his or her opinion on political and social issues. However, in exercising these rights, the faculty member must make it clear that he or she does not speak for the University, but simply as an individual. The faculty member does not use the classroom to solicit support for personal views and opinions.
Because academic freedom has traditionally included the faculty member's full freedom as a citizen, most faculty members face no insoluble conflicts between the claims of politics, social action, and conscience, on the one hand, and the claims and expectations of their students, colleagues, and institutions on the other. If such conflicts become acute, and the faculty member's attention to his or her obligations as a citizen and moral agent precludes the fulfillment of substantial academic obligations, the responsibility of that choice cannot be escaped, but the faculty member should either request a leave of absence or resign his or her academic position.