Purdue signs statement on neutrality to meet SB202 higher ed reform mandates

Purdue leans on its own past plus a 1967 template from University of Chicago’s ‘Kalven Report’ to meet state’s new higher ed reform law that demands Indiana campuses remain ideologically neutral

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PURDUE SIGNS NEW STATEMENT ON NEUTRALITY TO MEET SB202’S HIGHER ED REFORM MANDATES

As Purdue continues to line up university policies to meet higher education reforms demanded by the Indiana General Assembly and aimed at stifling what lawmakers consider left-leaning tendencies on the state’s campuses, university trustees on Friday approved a new statement committing to institutional neutrality on issues of the day.

Purdue officials said the new policy, approved unanimously by trustees, didn’t stray far from existing practices of refraining from speaking out as an institution on any number matters, as the university looked to satisfy more bits and pieces of Senate Bill’s 202 criteria as the law goes into effect July 1.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

Part of Senate Bill 202 limits universities from making official positions on “political, moral or ideological issues.”

The 648-word policy statement approved Friday leans heavily on the Kalven Report, a 1967 document created by the University Chicago during the height of protests over the Vietnam War, that came down on this conclusion: “The university is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic.”

• The full statement is at the bottom of this story.

Steve Schultz, Purdue’s general counsel, told trustees that archives showed the Purdue’s stance on institutional neutrality had roots dating to April 1966, when then-President Fred Hovde stated that “the university does not take an official position either on partisan political questions or on partisan matters of public policy.”