Draft statement on freedom of expression and academic freedom

The following is a message from the Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom Drafting Task Force.

In May 2024, President Wente and Provost Gillespie charged us to create a draft statement on freedom of expression and academic freedom as part of work in cooperation with the Board of Trustees that began in September 2023.

We met across several months, digesting the research by an earlier task force, reviewing statements from a broad range of higher education institutions, and having open discussion with campus leadership groups. The result is the Draft Statement on Free Expression and Academic Freedom.

There is important context for this statement, and we are grateful to University Marketing and Communications and several members of the Wake Forest community who were interviewed in a set of videos that explain key concepts behind the statement.

Now the exciting part of this process: we look to you to review and discuss this draft and to share your feedback. Group discussions will launch after Founders Day on February 20: look for announcements or host your own group. Of course you can also submit individual feedback using our form. The Drafting Task Force will review comments as they are submitted and provide responses to as much of the signed feedback as possible. The feedback period will end on March 21, 2025, to enable revision and reporting to the Board of Trustees at the end of April.

We are excited to be part of this discussion with you.

Sincerely,

Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom Drafting Task Force:

Matthew Clifford, Dean of Students

Mary Crosby, Associate Counsel

John Dinan, Professor of Politics & International Affairs

Simeon Ilesanmi, University Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies

Sam Perrotta (committee staff), Chief of Staff, Office of the Provost

Matthew Phillips (chair), Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives and Teaching Professor of Business Law & Ethics

Lauren Reid, Associate Professor of Accountancy, Lambert Family Accounting Fellow, and Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Margaret Taylor, Professor of Law