(C) Tennessee Lookout
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University of Tennessee students positive about campus free speech – Tennessee Lookout [1]
['Benjamin Pounds', 'More From Author', '- September']
Date: 2023-09-08
A recent survey shows most University of Tennessee students are positive about their campus’s commitment to free expression, in contrast to conservative rhetoric.
The 2023 Campus Climate Survey, published by UT before the fall semester, shows 92% of UT students said their campuses were committed to free expression, and 89% felt comfortable expressing themselves. Eight out of 10 UT students said they found different viewpoints on their campuses. Only 5% said they were not comfortable sharing opinions in their classrooms because it would affect their evaluations.
The survey stems from House Bill 2670, which Gov. Bill Lee signed into law shortly after it passed in 2022.
The law requires Tennessee public higher education institutions survey students and employees twice a year “to assess the campus climate with regard to diversity of thought and the respondents’ comfort level in speaking freely on campus, regardless of political affiliation or ideology.”
UT partnered with Gallup, an analytics firm, to survey students, faculty and staff at UT-Chattanooga, UT-Health Science Center in Memphis, UT-Knoxville, UT-Martin, UT-Southern and the UT system administration office from Jan. 23 through Feb. 20, 2023.
“Public opinion is that there is often a repression of people’s ability to speak their minds on our campuses, but we believed that wasn’t the case. It was really validating to get this Gallup poll back where it shows the impression we had was actually the correct one,” UT system President Randy Boyd said at a UT Board of Trustees meeting this June.
Students identifying as liberal were the least likely to say their campus was committed to free speech. They were also least likely to personally feel comfortable expressing their views.
While liberal students expressed more concern in the survey results, the law requiring the survey stemmed from concerns among conservative lawmakers. The same law also banned training programs for university employees that included “divisive concepts” such as “this state or the United States is fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist.”
Public opinion is that there is often a repression of people’s ability to speak their minds on our campuses, but we believed that wasn’t the case. It was really validating to get this Gallup poll back where it shows the impression we had was actually the correct one. – Randy Boyd, President, University of Tennessee System
Before the law passed, a report tied to conservative organizations titled “Critical Social Justice in Tennessee Higher Education: An Overview,” stated UT-K “went woke as a cautionary tale” for other higher education institutions. The report criticized what it described as a focus on favoring minorities and on portraying majorities as oppressive.
“This narrow ideological view is diverting universities away from their core mission toward a mission of leftist activism,” the report stated. “Academics and administrators are no longer merely pushing progressive politics but transforming universities into institutions dedicated to political activism and indoctrinating students into a hateful ideology.”
Arthur Milikh, executive director of The Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life, Anna Miller, education policy director at the Idaho Freedom Foundation, and Franklin’s Susan Kaestner, founding director of Velocity Convergence and president of the Tennessee Forum, wrote the report.
The bill’s supporters also expressed worries about campus culture being too narrow or liberal, and House Speaker Cameron Sexton said a program by the University of Memphis paying teachers to restructure courses around diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice inspired him to sponsor the bill.
Rep. Ron Gant, a Fayette County Republican who promoted the bill, described it as protecting free speech and prohibiting “adverse treatment of students or employees for refusing to consent to a certain ideology.”
Seventy-eight percent of UT faculty and 83% of UT Staff surveyed believed their campuses were committed to facilitating free speech for employees.
Conservative faculty and staff said they were less comfortable sharing their opinions than were their moderate or liberal colleagues. However, that result was in response to a question about how the respondents felt personally rather than the campus climate in general.
“While there is always more work that can be done, these data indicate a large majority of respondents across audiences feel comfortable in the areas of free speech and viewpoint diversity,” said Bernie Savarese, acting vice president for Academic Affairs, Research and Student Success at UT, in a statement. “Going forward, each campus is in the process of digging into the details of the survey and is charged with developing strategies and next steps based on what they have learned. We look forward to building on the success of these positive results.”
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