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)