Louisiana State University’s Faculty Senate Adopts Chicago Statement

Louisiana State University’s (LSU’s) faculty senate adopted a resolution yesterday affirming its commitment to free speech on campus.

The group’s vote makes LSU the tenth institution at which faculty or administrators have formally endorsed the University of Chicago’s policy statement on freedom of expression, which FIRE has promoted as the gold standard for speech policy statements in higher education.

LSU’s faculty senate has acted at a particularly tenuous moment for free speech at LSU, having first introduced the resolution late last month, on the same day former LSU professor Teresa Buchanan announced her FIRE-sponsored Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project lawsuit against the university. Buchanan alleged First Amendment and due process violations in her suit, claiming the university fired her for “sexual harassment” for salty but pedagogically sound (and constitutionally protected) language she used in her teacher-training courses.

LSU’s faculty senate joins the following colleges and universities that have adopted some version of the Chicago Statement: Princeton University, Purdue University, Johns Hopkins University, American University, Chapman University, Winston-Salem State University, the University of Wisconsin System (which includes 26 campuses), the University of Virginia College at Wise, and Columbia University.

FIRE congratulates LSU’s faculty senate on this welcome development.