As faculty at the University of Utah, both current and emeritus, and speaking only for ourselves — many of us having served for decades as professors, department chairs, deans and in other leadership roles — we feel compelled to speak out publicly about the growing threats to academic freedom and faculty governance in our state’s higher education institutions. Many of us signed an earlier letter that discussed these issues and was addressed to University of Utah President Randall and the University of Utah’s Academic Senate. We received no response from President Randall, so we want to present the relevant issues to the public.
Recently, the Utah Legislature moved to limit the University of Utah’s Academic Senate’s oversight of institutional policy. This follows a national trend of political interference in the core functions of universities: attacks on tenure, restrictions on diversity and inclusion initiatives, and the chilling of open expression in classrooms and offices.
We have watched these developments with increasing alarm. We know how overwhelming it can be for faculty to balance daily responsibilities while facing coordinated, ideological attacks. However, silence, we fear, will be interpreted as consent.
A university cannot fulfill its mission to educate, innovate, and serve society if it does not also protect the academic freedom of its faculty and the democratic structures that govern it. The Academic Senate must be empowered, not marginalized. Also, university administrators must be willing to push back against the Legislature, rather than acquiescing to their demands.
We urge the University of Utah to follow the lead of peer institutions nationwide and take a public stand against legislative interference in academic work. We ask the President of the University to stand for faculty, students and staff, rather than working against them and undermining their capacity to carry out their work. We ask the Academic Senate to stand up for faculty, students and staff and to lead in reasserting faculty governance at the University of Utah.
Frederick R. Adler, Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Amanda Barusch, Professor Emerita, School of Social Work
Sarah E. Bush, Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Mario R. Capecchi, Distinguished Professor, Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, Human Genetics
David Carrier, Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Dale H. Clayton, Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Katherine Coles, Distinguished Professor, English
Phyllis Coley, Distinguished Professor Emerita, School of Biological Sciences
Norman Council, Professor Emeritus, English
Stephen Downes, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy
Jim Ehleringer, Distinguished Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Gene Fitzgerald, Professor Emeritus, Languages/Russian
Robert Flores, Professor Emeritus, S.J.Quinney College of Law
Robert A. Goldberg, Professor Emeritus, History
David Goldenberg, Professor Emeritus, School of Biological Sciences
Franz Goller, Professor Emeritus, School of Biological Sciences
Patricia Hanna, Professor Emerita, Philosophy, and Linguistics, Past President of the Academic Senate
Kristen Hawkes, Distinguished Professor, Anthropology
Howard Horowitz, Professor Emeritus, English
Martin Horvath, Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Ken Jameson, Professor Emeritus, Economics, Past President of the Academic Senate
Bruce Landesman, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy, Past President of the Academic Senate
John T. (Jack) Longino, Professor Emeritus, School of Biological Sciences
William Miller, Professor Emeritus, School of Architecture
Nalini M. Nadkarni, Professor Emeritus, School of Biological Sciences, Senior Research Fellow, Sorenson Impact Institute
James O’Connell, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Anthropology
Cynthia Stark, Professor, Philosophy
Thomas Stillinger, Professor Emeritus, English
Stephen Tatum, Professor Emeritus, English
Barry Weller, Professor Emeritus, English
Joanne Yaffe, Professor Emerita, School of Social Work