Our Enduring Commitments in this Moment of Challenge

Dear Members of the University Community,

This is a period of intense and profound political contestation regarding the future of institutions of higher education in the United States. For some time now, the fabric of the higher education compact has been stretched and frayed; now, it is at risk of being rended–with the question of how it might be rewoven unresolved.

As the broader higher education compact is reordered, we should not fear change for its own sake. There is reform to be had–and great opportunity to improve and to achieve more. Yet, how a period of reform unfolds can also cause enormous damage; federal and political overreach and intervention without regard to due process produces profound damage. As I have noted in previous communications in February and in March, we have important interests at stake at this moment, as well as a set of obligations that we must and will honor.

I start with our obligations as an institution. Our university has been built from the ground up on a set of values and institutional practices designed to ensure that we are a place of truth-seeking, deep scholarship, and rigorous education that is free from discrimination. It is by constantly striving toward this set of ideals that we earn the trust required to form fruitful partnerships with the American people and with our many university citizens who come to us from countries across the world. Our institution arises from a compact of partnerships amongst students, families, alumni, and faculty with private individual supporters, foundations, corporations and other institutions of civic society; and, of course, with our largest single sponsor: the federal government. The essence of this compact is that every party brings all that they can to enhance the learning of students and to advance understanding.

This is a compact that is predicated on our university being rigorous, evidence-based, open-minded, and a place where freedom of expression and academic freedom is the order of the day. To honor this compact, we must at first be principled. My speech and the associated events on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Chicago Principles show how hard we must work to uphold our principles. To sustain such a compact, we must also be practical; we must be effective and efficient stewards of the funds we receive, whether as tuition, grants, gifts, or contracts. It is our obligation to ensure non-discrimination, to permit the widest possible range of dialogue, and yet to enforce time, place, and manner restrictions on protest such that the expression of some does not come at the expense of others. We commit earnestly to fulfill our obligations to these many aspects of our compact, both principled and practical. When we fall short, we seek to learn and do better.

We are not alone in this. Vitally, far beyond our Quads, the higher education compact sustains an interdependent community of colleges and universities across the nation that we contribute to and depend upon. The American genius for melding private ingenuity and generosity with public investment (and oversight) has led to an enormous range of highly competitive institutions of higher education in the United States. Surely this variety is a factor in why our American system of higher education is so exceptional, having produced innovation and discovery at a scale that is the envy of the world.

The health of our institution and so many other universities and colleges requires a higher education compact that reinforces and enhances a few, but enduring, principles: free expression for all, even for those with unpopular viewpoints; a combination of academic freedom and commitment to excellence in all aspects of academic efforts; freedom from discrimination; an openness to brilliant students and scholars from around the world, who are drawn here by the beacon of freedom; and, essentially, for any academic institution to retain its integrity, it must retain the autonomy to hire faculty and decide on academic content.

The University of Chicago has blazed a trail through its enduring commitment to these ideals for more than 130 years; we will hold fast to them in the years ahead.

Sincerely,
Paul

---
Paul Alivisatos
President