BALTIMORE (TND) — Johns Hopkins University announced on Thursday that it would no longer comment publicly on issues outside its direct area of responsibility, describing the move as a “stance of restraint.”
University leaders will now consider whether an issue “clearly relates to a direct, specific and demonstrable interest or function of the university” before issuing a statement, the announcement said. Johns Hopkins notes that the university has always taken a “restrained approach” to public statements, but the new step represents a stronger commitment.
“The number of such requests has increased in recent years on a wide range of topics – human rights violations, acts of discrimination, cases of targeted violence and military conflict, changes in health regulations and natural disasters, to name a few. However, the practice of issuing statements on these issues can conflict with the university’s function as a place of open discourse and free exchange of ideas,” the announcement said.
The university says that while public statements may seem “legitimate” or “comforting,” they sometimes conflict with its “core mission.”
“In addition, the statements may appear superficial or inadequate and have the potential to ‘excuse the lack of meaningful action to bring the community together in difficult moments, to take up difficult issues, and to learn, discuss and debate together in a manner of mutual respect and support,'” the announcement said.
The announcement notes that the new protocol does not apply to individual faculty members when they act in “their academic or personal capacity.”
The move by Johns Hopkins University is similar to that made by Harvard University in May. The elite university said at the time that it would no longer comment on “issues outside its core function” because it did not want to become a “government.”
The Kalven Committee of the University of Chicago also advises its faculty to remain neutral on political and social issues, as the opposite could endanger academic freedom.
