Q: What is the name of your list? Is it the List for Academic Freedom, or the List for Academic Freedom and Institutional Neutrality?
A: It is the List for Academic Freedom and Institutional Neutrality. But some outlets have a character limit, so I sometimes need to use a shortened title.
Q: Is Academic Freedom under pressure?
A: I believe it is. The Royal Netherland Academy of Arts and Sciences recently published the report Academic freedom in the Netherlands: response to current threats. It describes how academic freedom is under pressure due to the funding structure, intimidation of researchers, third-party collaborations, and tensions within the academic community.
Q: What is Institutional Neutrality?
A: Institutional Neutrality means the university - but also a faculty, department, school, or any administrative unit – should not take position on social and political issues, unless those issues threaten the core activities of the university.
Q: And what are these core activities of a university?
A: To generate and disseminate knowledge. This means it is perfectly fine for a university to take a position on budget cuts in higher education, for example.
Q: Why do we need Institutional Neutrality?
A: A university should host critics but not be the critic itself. Debate should be left to individual scholars and students. As soon as a university takes a position it silences dissent, hinders debate, and limits academic freedom.
Q: Do we not have Institutional Neutrality?
A: I believe it is under pressure. Some students and staff seem to think that the university is a social justice organization. That we should take political or moral positions, and let these positions guide, for example, who we are allowed to collaborate with. I disagree. It is our research that should make the world a better place. But that can only be achieved if the university as an institute remains neutral.
Q: Can – under the guise of Academic Freedom and viewpoint diversity – anything be said on campus?
A: No. Academic Freedom is not the same as freedom of speech. Academic Freedom pertains only to one’s academic expertise. For example, if you are a scholar of late 18th-century English literature, your opinion about a current geopolitical conflict is not protected by Academic Freedom. We want to facilitate academic discussion and debate. That requires, for example, speakers to have demonstrable academic knowledge on a particular subject. Or, at minimum, base their discourse on academic knowledge. It also requires that these discussions take place in a respectful setting, free from intimidation.
Q: Where did you get all this from?
A: The KNAW reports on Academic Freedom, The Kalven Report, the Academic Freedom Alliance, the Heterodox Academy, and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. See Recourses for more information.