What We Stand For
The UC Initiative for Free Inquiry unites members of the University of California who share a commitment to the university’s foundational mission: producing, preserving, and transmitting knowledge through free inquiry, reasoned debate, and the disinterested pursuit of truth. Faculty affiliated with UCIFI commit to upholding these principles in their teaching, scholarship, service, and participation in university life.
A university must remain a place where students, faculty, and staff can explore difficult questions—scientific, social, moral, and political—without fear of censorship, retaliation, or professional risk. Academic freedom is not only a legal protection, it is a scholarly ethic. An inclusive academic climate where rigor and respect are complementary, not competing, forces is necessary for robust intellectual exchange.
With the right of academic freedom comes the responsibility of shared governance. As classroom leaders, disciplinary stewards, and evaluators of research, faculty—especially those with tenure—carry a heightened responsibility to defend the norms of free inquiry and to protect academic freedom for all community members. This includes defending students and colleagues whose views may be unpopular and supporting those who have been unfairly targeted for their views. Faculty stewardship also involves advocating for due process and transparency in institutional policies to ensure they are consistent with the principles of academic and intellectual freedom.
Universities should maintain institutional neutrality on contested social and political issues not directly related to university operations. Institutional neutrality is a sign of respect for the diversity of views within a scholarly community and is the necessary condition for free and open debate. Universities must regulate the time, place, and manner of expression, but never its content. Administrators and faculty alike must uphold the principle that the right to speak does not depend on the popularity of one’s ideas.
We strive to foster a campus climate where disagreement is approached with curiosity, respect, and humility rather than hostility or avoidance. This means holding conversations in good faith, engaging others with philosophical charity, and resisting the urge to win arguments rather than understand one another. Although formal protections matter, a thriving intellectual environment also requires a shared cultural commitment to open-mindedness, evidence-based reasoning, and dialogue across difference. This ethos must extend beyond faculty to include students, staff, and the broader university community.
The university’s primary purpose remains education and knowledge creation, not advocacy for specific social or political causes. Institutional excellence depends on promoting merit and integrity in hiring, admissions, and the evaluation of research and teaching. A commitment to excellence also entails regularly evaluating and streamlining university policies, removing unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles, and ensuring that institutional practices serve the goals of fairness, effectiveness, and intellectual freedom.