Here's the text of the proposal:
WHEREAS in 1957's Sweezy v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court of the United States observed that "[t]he essentiality of freedom in the community of American universities is almost self-evident. No one should underestimate the vital role in a democracy that is played by those who guide and train our youth. To impose any strait jacket upon the intellectual leaders in our colleges and universities would imperil the future of our Nation. . . . Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise, our civilization will stagnate and die."; and
WHEREAS ten years later in Keyishian v. Board of Regents, the Supreme Court further declared that academic freedom "is a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom."; and
WHEREAS in Healy v. James, the Supreme Court stated that "the precedents of this Court leave no room for the view that, because of the acknowledged need for order, First Amendment protections should apply with less force on college campuses than in the community at large. Quite to the contrary, 'the vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools.'"; and
WHEREAS in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from compelling an individual to engage in speech, proclaiming that "if there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."; and
WHEREAS many colleges and universities require or invite current and/or prospective faculty to demonstrate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), often through a written statement that factors into hiring, reappointment, evaluation, promotion, or tenure decisions; and
WHEREAS vague or ideologically motivated DEI statement policies can too easily function as litmus tests for adherence to prevailing ideological views on DEI, penalize faculty or applicants for holding dissenting opinions on matters of public concern, and, as the Supreme Court warned against in Keyishian, "cast a pall of orthodoxy" over our public college and university campuses; and
