The Task Force on Freedom of Expression released the following draft Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Inquiry at Tufts University in September 2008 and requested comments. The comment period closed on Friday, October 17, 2008. Background information is available in a progress report and message to the community also issued by the Task Force.
Tufts University is an educational community that has as its paramount mission the discovery and dissemination of knowledge and the pursuit of the arts through study, teaching, and research. For this community to achieve its mission, all members must have full and equal opportunity to pursue personal and intellectual growth.
Freedom of expression and inquiry is fundamental to the academic enterprise at Tufts. Without freedom of expression, community members cannot fully share their knowledge or test ideas on the anvil of open debate and criticism. Without freedom of inquiry, community members cannot find new knowledge or challenge conventional wisdom.
Freedom of expression and inquiry is not absolute. The exercise of freedom of expression and inquiry at Tufts is limited by laws and University regulations. The law, for example, provides that freedom of expression does not entail the right to slander the reputation of another person, to put the safety of the public at risk, to threaten or obstruct a speaker who advances unwelcome ideas, or to provoke another person to violence. In addition, the University establishes rules to ensure the orderly function of the educational enterprise and to protect the rights of each member of the community to participate in and benefit from the discovery and dissemination of knowledge.¹
Beyond the requirements of laws and regulations, members of the Tufts community owe one another the basic respect and ethical obligations of human beings engaged in a common endeavor. The respect owed to one another has three basic dimensions:
- To respect the freedom of other community members to inquire and express themselves freely;
- To exercise freedom of expression and inquiry in ways that respect the dignity of others; and
- To create a climate that is conducive to learning and in which all community members, regardless of background, are free from various forms of harassment and intimidation which may interfere with their ability to study, grow, and attain their full potential.
¹ Refer to the specific policies and regulations governing faculty, staff, and students. In rare cases where these policies and regulations are violated, disciplinary or other administrative actions may be necessary.
