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Office of thePresident
Ad Hoc Committee on Freedom of Expression, Learning, and Community
Mission
The work of the Committee will define areas of concern, strength, and opportunity in balancing freedom of expression, learning, and community. Upon its findings, the Committee will recommend future action toward a better balance for the full Haverford community. The Committee will:
- identify and assess the relationship between the exercise of expressive freedom and the College's commitment to creating an inclusive intellectual learning community, including but not limited to political speech, and concerns related to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bias;
- center the social Honor Code as foundational for students, and by extension, for the Haverford community;
- critically examine existing policies, procedures, and practices related to expression and bias on campus and their impact on Haverford’s mission;
- engage students, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders to understand diverse perspectives on expressive freedom, liberal arts education in an intimate and intellectually rigorous learning community, scholarship, and community-building;
- consider social media’s roles in expressive freedom, learning, and building community, including its divisive and negative roles;
- explore best practices from other institutions and organizations that are successfully fostering expressive freedom in an inclusive community;
- develop consensus recommendation(s) to the president;
- prepare a report that includes: the history of its work; a synopsis of its findings and the key topics and questions explored; recommendation(s) to the president; the rationale for such recommendation(s); and articulation of principles that might guide future considerations of similar issues, should they arise.
Committee Composition
TBD
Anticipated Outputs
The Committee will convene in Spring 2024, and aim to produce a final report and recommendations no later than January 2025. During this time the Committee will offer two progress reports to the community.