Photos by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source and courtesy photos. Graphic by Natasha Khan Vicens/Pittsburgh’s Public Source
Campuses are changing under the Trump administration, and local university leaders are choosing their words carefully. Here’s what some are saying.
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Academic freedom is the life force that allows teaching and learning to exist, but it’s not always easy to talk about something so intrinsic for those in higher education, according to Isaac Kamola.
“I’m not used to talking about the oxygen in the air. I just assume that it’s there, right?” said Kamola, who runs the American Association of University Professors’ Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom. “But we live in a reality in which that oxygen has been slowly being drawn out of the room.”
This year, colleges and universities have seen research funding cuts, international student visas revoked and continued blowback against past campus speech and demonstrations — leading to several higher ed leaders resigning or being fired.
For the presidents who remain, silence or neutrality has been the favored stance. Despite moments of pushback, including lawsuits to restore funding and group statements, few have directly spoken out to defend their institutions. The exceptions have been few enough to be newsworthy: Harvard, George Mason and Princeton among a tiny few others.
Wesleyan University President Michael Roth believes there’s no room for silence today. He feels college and university leaders have a duty to fight to protect academic freedom.
“We in higher education must redouble our efforts to model and defend the enlightenment ideals of education and freedom,” Roth wrote to Public Source.
What is academic freedom?
There’s no universally agreed-upon definition of the term. Many academic will point to a 1940 American Association of University Professors’ statement in which the concept is defined through three pillars:
- Teachers’ freedom to research and publish findings
- Teachers’ freedom to discuss relevant issues in the classroom
- Teachers’ freedom to express views as private citizens without censorship or discipline from their employer
Students are notably absent from this evaluation. Academic freedom, as it relates to students, is generally thought to involve the freedom to learn, but what that entails is open to interpretation.
“Academic freedom is an ideal that people have fought hard for, and it’s still elusive,” Cain said.
Students and faculty members on campuses cross the country and throughout Pittsburgh have criticized their presidents for what they see as capitulating to the Trump administration.
Kamola, who is also a political science professor at Trinity College, said university presidents need to be “really vocal” and choose “which side of history” they want to be on.
“I think that we’ve seen enough to know that we’re not dealing with a little bump in the road … It is the present. I hope to God it’s not the future, but there’s a very real reality in which it is, and I think that we have to figure out what we’re going to do to prevent that,” he said.
“Just hoping it goes away because it’s more convenient to keep our head down, it’s not a winning strategy.”
After research funding cuts earlier this year, protesters at the University of Pittsburgh called on Chancellor Joan Gabel to condemn what’s been referred to as an attack on not only higher ed, but academic freedom as well.
Federal government officials “are relying on universities to weigh the cost of being vocal and speaking out in hope that we will prioritize federal funding over our values, over academic freedom, over science, over diversity, equity and inclusion,” said speaker and Pitt professor Kyaien Conner at an April rally.
“The cost of that silence will be great,” she continued.
This year, schools including Pitt and CMU have changed or deleted several references to DEI and changed related terminology on their websites. Actions like these serve to “undermine education as the practice of freedom,” Roth wrote.
Public Source’s series, “Gagging Academia,” is exploring the right to teach, debate and protest at local schools. We contacted eight local colleges and universities with questions about the state of academic freedom at their schools. Here’s what the leaders had to say — or opted not to comment on — edited for length.
University of Pittsburgh
Joan Gabel
Chancellor
Started office: 2023
Is academic freedom under threat?
Pitt did not respond to Public Source’s questions, but a spokesperson directed a reporter to a webpage outlining Pitt’s stance on academic freedom. No current challenges to the concept are mentioned — only that “potential challenges” make discussing it on campus important.
To what extent, if any, has academic freedom been discussed on campus in the past year?
Pitt’s website states that conversations are regular, “as appropriate.” These conversations allow the university to make its commitment to academic freedom known, the website continued. An annual faculty meeting in March was centered around academic freedom, and Gabel called the topic a “very difficult” but important one to discuss “amidst very difficult times.”
What measures has the university taken recently to preserve or strengthen academic freedom?
Public Source could not identify any recent policy changes or other actions taken to address how the college nurtures academic freedom.
Carnegie Mellon University
Farnam Jahanian
President
Started office: 2017
Is academic freedom under threat?
CMU did not respond to Public Source’s questions. Instead, a university spokesperson directed a reporter to Jahanian’s public statements. In a March message, he spoke about academic freedom and said “today’s climate” caused university administrators to be “especially vigilant” in protecting it.
To what extent, if any, has academic freedom been discussed on campus in the past year?
Jahanian in March also said that a university discussion series titled “Deeper Conversations” that began in 2024 would continue. The series aims to address “the most complex issues facing society today” through respectful, civil discourse. This year’s theme is on how universities contribute to society and how that’s changing.
What measures has the university taken recently to preserve or strengthen academic freedom?
The president formed a group to focus on the Fence — a structure that CMU students use to write messages, many of which are politically or socially relevant — and how to move forward in the wake of the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit. The group will explore, among other questions, where painting of the Fence fits within CMU’s free expression policy. They’ll produce a report with recommendations for university administrators, which was described by Jahanian as a continuation of the report that a Commission on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression released in 2022.
La Roche University
Christina Clark
President
Started office: 2024
Is academic freedom under threat?
“Academic freedom faces multifaceted challenges today that require careful consideration. Our era is dominated by rapid social media responses and soundbites that often oversimplify complex issues. This speed can encourage knee-jerk responses rather than the thoughtful reflection central to academic inquiry.
The greatest threat to academic freedom today is not one source, but a cultural shift toward reaction rather than reflection. Universities exist to teach students how to consider multiple perspectives, grapple with complex ideas, and develop critical thinking skills — values at risk when discourse grows polarized and context is lost.
In this climate, academic institutions must safeguard the space for nuanced discussion and scholarly debate, ensuring difficult questions can be explored without fear of misrepresentation or distortion.”
To what extent, if any, has academic freedom been discussed on campus in the past year?
“Academic freedom has been an important topic of discussion across our campus community throughout the past year. To support this work, we have been collaborating with the Constructive Dialogue Institute through the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, focusing on how to create environments where differing perspectives can be expressed and examined in thoughtful and productive ways.
Additionally, this marks my second year participating in the College Presidents for Civic Preparedness initiative, which brings together institutional leaders committed to strengthening democratic discourse and civic engagement on campus.”
What measures has the university taken recently to preserve or strengthen academic freedom?
“We are implementing concrete measures:
- Expanding programs on constructive dialogue and civic engagement
- Enhancing orientation programs with training in free expression skills and
- respectful dialogue
- Developing speaker series that intentionally center diverse viewpoints
- Integrating civic preparedness themes into the curriculum
- Promoting voter engagement and informed democratic participation.
Strengthening academic freedom requires ongoing commitment from administrators, faculty, staff and students alike. It is not only about protecting the right to speak, but about cultivating the wisdom to engage thoughtfully with ideas that may challenge us.”
Carlow University
Kathy Humphrey
President
Started office: 2021
Is academic freedom under threat?
“In the current national climate, colleges and universities are being asked to adapt in real time to shifting expectations and regulations. We view this as an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to foster respectful exchange, a freedom [Carlow] continues to support as we have throughout our more than 90-plus-year history.”
To what extent, if any, has academic freedom been discussed on campus in the past year?
“Naturally, the topic has been a discussion. It is the foundation of our pedagogy and is crucial to the learning process for our faculty and students.”
What measures has the university taken recently to preserve or strengthen academic freedom?
“We honor and respect debate, the opportunity for people to find truth, to teach and speak the truth, without censorship.”
Chatham University
Lisa Lambert
Interim president
Started office: June
Lambert did not directly address Public Source’s questions but provided a statement, excerpted here:
“While we strongly support academic freedom, I believe the public discourse is sometimes muddled when people confuse the principles of ‘academic freedom’ with the Constitutional right to freedom of speech, which is an equally important, but different, concept.
For example, academic freedom supports a class debate over controversial political topics in a political science course, but such a discussion would not be appropriate or relevant in an astronomy classroom. Freedom of speech allows those same professors to campaign on their own time for a chosen candidate — but not in their classrooms. And academic freedom is never a justification for hate speech, threats or bullying.
Academic freedom is needed to examine, analyze and debate the pros and cons of differing theories and points of view. If students are never exposed to controversial topics and given the opportunity to discuss them, how are they expected to learn to judge the validity and value of arguments? A university needs to be where important, sensitive topics can be debated openly. We do our students (and future leaders) no favors by shielding them from controversy.”
Duquesne University
Ken Gormley
President
Started office: 2016
Is academic freedom under threat?
A university spokesperson said Gormley’s schedule “will not give him the time to address these questions.” The president has not made any public statements about academic freedom since 2019.
Earlier this year, he signed the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) statement titled, “A call for constructive engagement.” This was one of the first collective responses by campus leaders to upheaval prompted by federal activity.
“Our colleges and universities share a commitment to serve as centers of open inquiry where, in pursuit of truth, faculty, students and staff are free to exchange ideas and opinions across a full range of viewpoints without fear of retribution, censorship or deportation,” the AACU statement read.
To what extent, if any, has academic freedom been discussed on campus in the past year?
In February, Gormley created a group that would monitor executive orders related to academic freedom, among other topics. The group was asked to recommend university action.
What measures has the university taken recently to preserve or strengthen academic freedom?
Not known, though one of Gormley’s goals as a leader has been to promote “civil discourse” through an annual speaker series that began in 2017.
Point Park University
Chris Brussalis
President
Started office: 2023
Is academic freedom under threat?
A university spokesperson did not return Public Source’s request for comments. Brussalis has not made any public statements mentioning academic freedom.
To what extent, if any, has academic freedom been discussed on campus in the past year?
Public Source could not find evidence of discussions on the topic.
What measures has the university taken recently to preserve or strengthen academic freedom?
Public Source could not identify recent policy changes or other actions taken to address how the university supports academic freedom.
Community College of Allegheny County
Quintin Bullock
President
Started office: 2014
Is academic freedom under threat?
A college spokesperson did not respond to Public Source’s request for comments. Bullock has made no public statements mentioning academic freedom.
To what extent, if any, has academic freedom been discussed on campus in the past year?
Public Source could not find evidence of discussions on the topic.
What measures has the university taken recently to preserve or strengthen academic freedom?
Public Source could not identify recent policy changes or other actions taken to address how the college protects academic freedom.
Maddy Franklin reports on higher ed for Pittsburgh’s Public Source, in partnership with Open Campus, and can be reached at madison@publicsource.org.
This story was fact-checked by Bella Markovitz.
This article first appeared on Pittsburgh’s Public Source and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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