Tim Tai, Senior Photographer

A committee of seven professors, convened by University President Maurie McInnis, will consider institutional neutrality at Yale. 

Under institutional neutrality policy, higher education institutions refrain from taking stances on current events in which they are not directly involved. In her first major public act as president, McInnis announced Tuesday afternoon that the committee will recommend to her whether to adopt neutrality by the end of the semester. 

“One topic has emerged as top of mind for many people in our community: the question of when Yale, as an institution, speaks on issues of the day,” McInnis wrote in a University-wide email. “I have asked the committee to examine when the university, or those speaking on its behalf, should comment on matters of public significance.”

The announcement comes as approximately 20 universities have adopted institutional neutrality in recent years following increased public scrutiny of free expression in higher education. Just hours before McInnis’ announcement, the University of Pennsylvania’s interim president also announced a move toward neutrality.

In the announcement, McInnis wrote that she instructed committee members to consider Yale’s commitment to “diverse viewpoints and open dialogue and debate” and the University’s engagement with the world when making their recommendation. She noted that Yale’s free expression protections are not under scrutiny.

The committee’s members hold appointments in Yale College, the Law School, the Divinity School, the School of Medicine and the School of Management.

The co-chairs of the committee are Michael Della Rocca, Sterling Professor of Philosophy, and law professor Cristina Rodríguez ’95 LAW ’00. Its members are applied physics professor Charles Ahn, surgery professor Nita Ahuja, economics professor Kerwin Charles, religious studies professor Jennifer Herdt and history professor Stephen Pitti ’91.

The committee will hold in-person listening sessions and has created a web form to collect feedback from students, faculty and staff.

The concept of institutional neutrality comes from the University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report. It has picked up steam in recent years, as many universities across the country, including Harvard University, Stanford University and Columbia University, adopted versions of such policy. 

Last year, over 150 faculty members joined a Faculty for Yale group, which explicitly endorses institutional neutrality as laid out in the Kalven Report. 

At the same time, another letter from over 200 faculty members, addressed to Salovey’s successor before McInnis’ appointment, called on Yale to eschew adopting neutrality, saying the policy “acquiesc[es] to those who wish to destroy academic freedoms, dictate what we can teach, to reverse the progress achieved in inclusion of previously ignored and marginalized voices in our society.”

In March, former University President Peter Salovey told the News that he would like to see his successor consider neutrality.

“I think we should have some kind of conversation about it on campus, probably through a committee, but it would be something I encourage my successor to do,” he said.

On Aug. 1, exactly one month after beginning her presidency, McInnis told the News that she was interested in sourcing community opinions on free expression in response to a question about whether she planned to consider institutional neutrality.

“It is the 50th anniversary of the Woodward Report. This is probably a good year for our community to be thinking about all such issues that pertain,” she said, referencing the 1974 report at the core of Yale’s free expression policies. “I have spoken a lot in my past roles and consistently uphold the values for a content-neutral approach [to] policies that are related to free expression.”

Maurie McInnis assumed the presidency on July 1.