In recent years, some Canadian universities and faculty bodies have begun considering and adopting "institutional neutrality" policies. These policies, which may also be called "impartiality" (as is the case at Carleton University) or "non-partisanship" policies, mandate that universities must refrain from issuing public statements about contested political or social issues.
While these policies are much more prevalent in the U.S., they are in place at Canadian institutions such as Laurentian University, the University of New Brunswick, Memorial University, and the University of Waterloo. Extant policies vary, but they generally follow many of the principles laid out in the 1967 University of Chicago "Kalven Report" on the question of political stances held by universities.
Advocates for such policies suggest that neutrality protects academic freedom, maintains a pluralistic environment, and preserves public trust. They argue that it is possible for universities to forbid statements that are or could be taken to be made on behalf of the institution itself while preserving the freedom for students, faculty, and staff to personally express or research political views.
The assumption that neutrality is possible, desirable, and protects academic freedom is not supported by empirical evidence from Canada or abroad. Neutrality is internally inconsistent: universities routinely make institutional commitments that have political implications. Neutrality is also likely to undermine academic freedom by decreasing institutional willingness to defend scholars whose work becomes politically controversial. And neutrality is difficult to square with modern universities' responsibilities as public institutions whose activities and partnerships necessarily have political effects.
Neutrality is neither conceptually sound nor operationally viable. Instead, universities should pursue principled engagement -- a framework that preserves academic freedom, encourages knowledge creation and innovation, and recognizes that universities are embedded within political, economic, and ethical systems.
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