On July 18, the UC Regents passed a policy banning academic departments from posting political statements on their website landing page. Since its introduction in January, the UC Academic Senate has made changes to the policy, but concerns remain.

The policy reiterates that departments must abide by existing laws and university policies on conflicts of interest, discrimination and privacy when making statements. Courtesy of UC Board of Regents

The “Policy on Public and Discretionary Statements by Academic Units” aimed to regulate statements made by departments at University of California schools. Political statements can show up on an academic department’s website under a separate page identified for such statements but not on its landing page, and departments must disclose that it does not reflect the opinions of the university.

The policy was criticized by the Academic Senate following its introduction in January. Criticisms included overly broad and simplistic language, insufficient enforcement mechanisms and the policy’s potential to limit free speech and infringe academic freedom.

The new version of the policy, after receiving consultation from the UC Academic Council, directly outlines the procedures a department must use before issuing a statement, which includes adding a disclaimer stating which members of the unit endorse the statement. Additionally, the policy reiterates that departments must abide by existing laws and university policies on conflicts of interest, discrimination and privacy when making statements. 

Departments will be responsible for deciding their own systems for voting on any statement to be issued. According to the policy, they must also disclose which groups within the department voted to endorse the statement.

“That [the policy] is to make sure that everybody’s voice is appropriately heard and people don’t represent a statement as coming from the department when it only comes from a small part of the department, for example,” said UCSB Academic Senate Chair, who serves on the Academic Council and advises the UC president, and professor of chemical engineering Susannah Scott.

The policy was seen by Academics for Justice in Palestine member and professor of English and global studies Bishnu Ghosh as an undermining of the authority and discretion of academics in issuing statements. While the policy has been updated, some professors remain concerned.

“What really troubles me about this top-down policy is it is not shared governance, and it actually is disrespectful to departments and faculty being able to adjudicate what should meet a professional standard,” Ghosh said.

Ghosh also expressed concerns that the policy constitutes political censorship.

“The policy regarding department statements is a form of censorship because they were agreed upon by departments with expertise in scholarship on social justice, scholarship on genocide and scholarship on the long history of discrimination,” Ghosh said.

According to Scott, the university has not provided information on how the policy will be enforced.

Scott said the plan to implement these policies is still being made and forthcoming communication could come to campuses in the fall.