CAFH Statements
“Dr. Jeff Flier has done a great service by reconstructing the sequence of events before and after the cancellation of a lecture/interviews at HMS in January, 2025. We, the Co-Presidents of CAFH, have not reached a consensus on whether the cancellation was an infringement on academic freedom, and whether enough has been done to replace the cancelled session with a future event. We agree, however, that Dean Daley’s decision to cancel the event should have been accompanied by a public statement giving the reasons behind the decision and explaining why the cancellation didn’t amount to suppression of academic freedom. The absence of such a statement was, in our view, a regrettable omission.” -CAFH Co-Presidents
You can read Dr. Flier’s summary here: Investigation into HMS Event Cancellation January 2025 (January 31, 2025)
“We are opposed to any interpretation or enforcement policy that would expose people to investigation for the content of their ideas or opinions. This includes ideas that many find offensive, one-sided, or wrong, as long as they do not fall outside the perimeter of speech protected by the First Amendment and conform to reasonable standards of time, place, and manner of expression. Errors and biases should be exposed by vigorous criticism from members of the Harvard community, not stipulated by university policy.” CAFH Executive Committee statement on the Settlement of the Students Against Antisemitism’s Lawsuit Against Harvard (January 28, 2025)
“Every member of the academic community should be free from fear of reprisal for positions they defend, questions they ask, or ideas they entertain…[and] should enjoy full standing to speak and be heard, regardless of background or social position…We also have a moral duty to listen, and to approach disagreement in a spirit of genuine curiosity, motivated by the desire to learn from each other, and open to the possibility that any of us, at any time, might be wrong.”
The Freedoms of a University (Adopted January 31, 2024)
“No institution is above criticism…Censors always say that the ideas they want to punish are harmful. But no one is infallible, and only when ideas are expressed and debated can we know their implications.”
CAFH Response to Dean Bobo on Punishing Faculty Speech (June 19, 2024)
CAFH Leadership Statements
Statement on the Congressional Subpoenas of Harvard (2/28/24)
Harvard Statements
“[E]ven with the most vigorous efforts on the part of campus officials, free speech will not survive an environment in which many people are indifferent to its existence or hostile to the expression of unpopular thoughts. Only in a community that actively values the open exchange of ideas and strongly disapproves of all forms of censorship can the right to speak remain unimpaired.”
President Derek Bok, “Open Letter on Free Speech” (1984)
“Free speech is uniquely important to the University because we are a community committed to reason and rational discourse. Free interchange of ideas is vital for our primary function of discovering and disseminating ideas through research, teaching, and learning.”
FAS Free Speech Guidelines (1990)
“The University places special emphasis…upon certain values which are essential to its nature as an academic community. Among these are freedom of speech and academic freedom, freedom from personal force and violence, and freedom of movement.”
University-Wide Statement on Rights and Responsibilities (1970/2002)
“Universities must model a commitment to the notion that truth cannot simply be claimed, but must be established — established through reasoned argument, assessment, and even sometimes uncomfortable challenges that provide the foundation for truth.”
President Drew Faust, “Commencement Speech” (2017)
“Academic freedom and inclusion and belonging are not competing ideals,but rather mutually reinforcing and indeed codependent requirements of higher education. Neither can fulfill its true purpose without the other.”
Report of the Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging (2018)
“Great universities stand for truth, and the pursuit of truth demands perpetual effort. Truth has to be discovered, revealed through argument and experiment, tested on the anvil of opposing explanations and ideas.”
President Larry Bacow, “The Pursuit of Truth and the Mission of the University” (2019)
“Knowledge is what transforms lives. Knowledge is our purpose. We serve that purpose best when we commit to open inquiry and freedom of expression as foundational values of our academic community. Our individual and collective capacity for discovery depends on our willingness to debate ideas; to expose and reconsider assumptions; to marshal facts and evidence; to talk and to listen with care and humility, and with the goal of deeper understanding and as seekers of truth.”
President Claudine Gay, “Courage to be Harvard: Inauguration Address” (2023)
“…a university must safeguard two essential freedoms. Every member of the academic community should be free from fear of reprisal for positions they defend, questions they ask, or ideas they entertain [and] every member of our community should enjoy full standing to speak and be heard, regardless of background or social position.”
Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard, The Freedoms of a University (2024)
“The university and its leaders should not…issue official statements about public matters that do not directly affect the university’s core function.”
Report on Institutional Voice in the University (2024)
Other Statements
AAUP Declaration of Principles (1915)
AAUP Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure (1940)
University of Chicago’s Kalven Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action (1967)
University of Chicago’s Shils Report on Criteria for Academic Appointments (1970)
Yale University’s Woodward Report (1974)
Chicago Principles (2015)
MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom (2022)
Princeton Principles for a Campus Culture of Free Inquiry (2023)
Stanford Law School Dean’s Letter (2023)