The University of West Florida Board of Trustees will consider whether to adopt an Institutional Neutrality statement, a recent trend promoted by FIRE (now the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression). Neutrality
Many universities across the United States have adopted institutional neutrality statements, formally committing not to take official stances on contentious political or social issues unrelated to their core educational missions. This approach is rooted in the University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report, when Vietnam War protests were occurring on college campuses. In the wake of recent Gaza protests, over 140 universities, including Harvard and Stanford, have adopted neutrality-related statements, but they vary from school to school.
Background: Trustee Adam Kissell served as the Director of the Individual Rights Defense Program and later as Vice President of Programs at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), now known as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. He worked at FIRE from 2007 to 2012. Kissel, who has not been confirmed by the Florida Senate, chairs the UWF Academic Affairs Committee…