The University of Chicago has built a brand around the idea that its students should be unafraid to encounter ideas or opinions they disagree with.
To drum that in, the school provides incoming students with copies of its 2014 free-speech declaration, known as the Chicago statement, which states that freedom of expression is an “essential element” of its culture.
That neutrality, the university argues, allows for a robust, unencumbered exchange of ideas.
Many professors swell with pride talking about how the school’s commitment to these principles has endured through two world wars, Vietnam and, more recently, the tumult of the Trump administration.
And more than 100 institutions have adopted or endorsed similar principles.
Persons:
Trump
Organizations:
University of Chicago
Locations:
Chicago, Vietnam