Most college students do not want colleges making political statements, according to an Inside Higher Ed survey.
The survey from Inside Higher Ed found that 54% of respondents disapprove of political statements from the universities they attend, specifically after major political events like President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Fewer than a quarter of respondents said universities should release a statement, according to the survey.
These results show students are leaning more toward institutional neutrality. However, at the University of Minnesota, President Rebecca Cunningham has made it a priority to respond to issues as she released two systemwide emails regarding federal policy changes.
What Do Students Think?
Clara Jünemann, the vice president of Undergraduate Student Government, said it can be difficult for students to understand what is happening on campus, or they feel disconnected from campus administration.
“I get emails almost daily like from a department or an administrative email, and they’re usually relatively long and contain somewhat complex information,” Jünemann said. “I think a lot of students care, but it’s hard to understand what to read, what to know.”
The Twin Cities campus has over 56,000 students, according to University Institutional data. Across the entire campus, students with a multitude of individual values listen to one president.
“I think in general, it can be hard for students to relate to what administration and administrative officials are saying on this campus,” Jünemann said. “I think it’s hard reading an email that comes from administration, they’re disconnected from students.”
Jünemann said often there is a disconnect between what is said in professional communication and the day-to-day operations at the University.
“What I’ve heard, speaking to students around campus a lot of times, emails from administration feel performative, like they’re doing it not necessarily to connect with students, but because they have to,” Jünemann said.
The performative nature of communication harms students’ interest in what the administration has to say about current issues.
“The messages that they do send often have a very administrative and professional tone,” Jünemann said. “I think it lacks an ability to connect with (students).”
Academic Freedom and Political Statements
Academic Freedom has been the center of several task forces at the University and reviews things like tenure faculty and administrative hiring.
Eric Van Wyk, the chair of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (AF&T), said all political comments are protected by academic freedom.
“One component of it is someone’s freedom to discuss matters of public concern and know that that doesn’t affect employment and the work that you do,” Van Wyk said.
Van Wyk said a world without academic freedom would be bleak.
“Controversy isn’t a goal, it’s something that may arise because people are exploring different ideas or have different understandings of those ideas, and those differences may be seen as controversial,” Van Wyk said. “It’s not the goal to be controversial, it’s the goal to be honest.”
Van Wyk said that the conversations at the University level should not be shunned when they impact University operations. He said there are challenges facing the University, and people look to (Cunningham) as the leader to respond to these issues.
“Currently, there are challenges to the mission of this University and its nature, and so the extent to which the President chooses to address those is up to her,” Van Wyk said. “I think people would be looking for a strong statement that defends the mission and integrity of the work people do.”
“I think it’s part of a president’s job to defend the mission of the institution, and if that mission is challenged, then a vigorous defense is required, and that’s what people would expect to see,” Van Wyk said.
