Institutional neutrality policies, such as those adopted by Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania, are good steps for hyperpoliticized universities. They also could prove entirely inconsequential.
Each school has published a statement of its own explaining the policy and what it aims to accomplish.
Universities taking official positions on sociopolitical events has become commonplace and even expected occurrences. The neutrality policy declares these schools will now refrain from doing so, in an effort instead to support the “creativity and academic freedom” of students and faculty, UPenn officials wrote. They still will issue statements on matters that directly affect the university.
The conflict between Israel and Palestinians, for example, no matter how imminent college protesters’ theatrics want to make it appear, does not have any bearing on university functions. It is likely that these student demands were a primary catalyst for the schools’ final movements toward neutrality.
The rest of the policy’s reasoning is that an institution cannot possibly represent the views of the diverse communities found on a college campus and that it will enhance future expression of free speech. Members will engage in debate without the burdens of political bias and self-censorship.
These are benefits we can all hope eventually will take effect on campuses. As it is, though, the policy will change little of the substance that comes from these universities.
Universities house mostly left-wing professors. A certain flavor of messaging and education comes out of these institutions as a result and becomes what is effectively the official position of a given school. Unless they hire more conservative professors, universities will strike no neutrality in their politics.
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Unfortunately, that sounds a lot like diversity hiring, but discrimination is the name of the game for liberal institutions that strive for balanced representation. Aside from that, encountering professors of varying political persuasions opens up a world of study for students. It only deepens their academic interests, provided professors are committed to a similar level of neutrality in the classroom. For their part, conservative professors have been practicing careful neutrality for years. The learning curve of this policy rests on liberal faculty.
Without action that intentionally changes the university environment, high-up institutional policies will end up as passive maintenance for the leftism that already controls the school. Neutrality is a good hope, but it wants pairing with substantive measures.