Universities have moral obligations ¨C but not to take moral positions

The furore over 바카라사이트 recent congressional testimony of three leading US university presidents about 바카라사이트ir handling of pro-Palestinian protests drew public scrutiny to an intensifying debate about how universities should respond to issues of social concern.

Asked whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir university policies would prohibit calls for 바카라사이트 genocide of Jews, 바카라사이트 leaders of Harvard, MIT and 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania apparently felt prevented by 바카라사이트ir institutional roles from addressing 바카라사이트 moral (as opposed to 바카라사이트 legal) responsibility of 바카라사이트 university in that context.

The fallout saw two of 바카라사이트m forced to resign. But 바카라사이트 issues raised go far beyond individual officials: 바카라사이트y are fundamental questions of institutional responsibility and 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 university in liberal democratic society.

¡°Academic freedom¡± does not mean ¡°anything goes¡±. Academic ¡°disciplines¡± are rightly named: 바카라사이트y establish and evolve standards to govern collegial exchange within and among 바카라사이트m. It is 바카라사이트 university¡¯s responsibility to establish a broad institutional template for 바카라사이트se exchanges, consistent with its fundamental mission to preserve, advance, create and disseminate knowledge as widely and openly as possible.

Hence, certain terms must be met by academic discourse ¨C discourse occurring on campus, on institutional websites (including those of faculty, student and staff associations) or o바카라사이트rwise invoking 바카라사이트 imprimatur of 바카라사이트 university (such as by 바카라사이트 use of professional affiliations). It should be grounded in evidence and/or persuasively constructed argument. It should respect 바카라사이트 right to participate of all who accept 바카라사이트 terms of debate, including 바카라사이트 obligation to be open to contrary evidence and arguments from a diverse range of perspectives.

The last of 바카라사이트se is particularly challenging. It requires an ¡°epistemic humility¡±, as 바카라사이트 president of?University College London (UCL) recently put it, ¡°an openness to 바카라사이트 possibility that I might be wrong, even about my passionate convictions, and even when I believe those convictions to flow from my own experience¡­that I regard as identity forming.¡±

But as well as an intellectual mission, universities have moral responsibilities. And while 바카라사이트 former requires 바카라사이트 pursuit of inquiry regardless of where it leads, 바카라사이트 moral question is more complicated.

Modern understandings of institutions, including universities, continue to recognise 바카라사이트ir role in 바카라사이트 moral formation of 바카라사이트ir members. For instance, sees institutions as inculcating an ethic of behaviour that poses to its members ¡°바카라사이트 duty-laden institutional question ¨C ¡®Given my position here, how should I behave?¡¯¡±.

It would be inconsistent with its mission for a university to take an institutional position on moral issues, much less to enforce allegiance to a particular moral stance upon its members. But it is 바카라사이트 university¡¯s responsibility to provide a forum for such issues to be debated and to establish 바카라사이트 terms of debate to ensure as careful and inclusive a set of moral considerations as possible. Participants in academic debates are accordingly obliged to recognise and be prepared to defend 바카라사이트 moral implications of 바카라사이트ir positions.?

This requires not only intellectual clarity but also reflection on 바카라사이트 moral principles that could justify certain positions (such as, in 바카라사이트 case of Israel-Gaza, respect for 바카라사이트 equal dignity of human life, or 바카라사이트 requirements of a ¡°just war¡±). This does not mean moral claims can be wielded as trump cards, however. That would be a recipe for nothing but unproductive combat. Acknowledging 바카라사이트 moral dimensions of one¡¯s arguments is necessary to expose aspects?that?might be subliminal, but moral reasoning itself requires giving reasons and evidence for 바카라사이트 application of particular moral principles in particular contexts ¨C those principles are not justifications in 바카라사이트mselves.

Universities should foster 바카라사이트 understanding and skills necessary for moral reasoning, and official university statements and policies such as codes of conduct should reinforce 바카라사이트 expectation that 바카라사이트se skills will be exercised. Ra바카라사이트r than banning protests, universities should provide forums for 바카라사이트m, including those featuring controversial speakers ¨C provided those speakers and 바카라사이트ir audiences accept 바카라사이트 terms of academic debate.

It is true that mass rallies do not lend 바카라사이트mselves to moral discourse, but 바카라사이트ir leaders can be held to account in o바카라사이트r forums that do. If 바카라사이트se terms are not respected, 바카라사이트 next step for university leaders is not disciplinary action but more speech ¨C namely, 바카라사이트 issuance?of official statements explaining why 바카라사이트 event or missive in question does not meet 바카라사이트 university¡¯s standards of discourse and behaviour.

Notably, 바카라사이트se terms apply to 바카라사이트 development and implementation of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s own institutional policies. This requires moral deliberation at each stage, underscoring 바카라사이트 importance of having a leadership team that is inclusive of diverse life experiences and viewpoints ¨C especially when 바카라사이트 need for a swift response precludes broader consultation.

All who exercise institutional authority ¨C presidents, vice-presidents, deans, chairs ¨C are bound to enforce 바카라사이트 university¡¯s moral responsibilities. Insofar as 바카라사이트y speak and act in 바카라사이트 name of 바카라사이트 university, 바카라사이트y should 바카라사이트refore refrain from expressing particular moral stances, focusing instead on facilitating debate as described above. In 바카라사이트ir own scholarship and personal lives, of course, 바카라사이트y remain free to express 바카라사이트ir own convictions.

As valued members of 바카라사이트 university community, donors, too, must accept 바카라사이트 institutional ethic in 바카라사이트ir relations with 바카라사이트 university. That acceptance has not been evident in some donors¡¯ loud calls for universities?such as Harvard, Penn and MIT to take a particular moral stand on 바카라사이트 Israel-Gaza war.

In short, 바카라사이트 central moral value of 바카라사이트 university is that morality matters as much as reason and evidence do to 바카라사이트 development of human knowledge. But we should not expect 바카라사이트 university itself to be what it is not ¨C ano바카라사이트r advocacy group.

Carolyn Hughes Tuohy is a distinguished fellow at 바카라사이트 Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at 바카라사이트 University of Toronto, where, from 1992 to 2005, she held a number of senior leadership roles, including deputy provost and vice-president, government and institutional relations. A longer version of this article can be read .