(The Center Square) – Free speech and academic freedom continue to be a top concern for faculty at the University of Michigan, a recent survey found.
The “Silence in the Classroom: The 2024 FIRE Faculty Survey Report” was conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting free speech on college campuses.
The FIRE survey was released just days after the University of Michigan announced it will no longer ask for diversity statements from faculty when considering hiring, promotion or tenure.
This came after growing backlash against the school’s DEI policies, including from faculty. At Michigan, only 35% of faculty surveyed said they believed DEI statements are often or always justifiable, even though 63% of faculty identified themselves as “liberal.” Nearly 50% of the faculty said they believe DEI statements are never or rarely justifiable in the hiring process.
Michigan’s board of regents has also signaled it will reconsider other DEI initiatives.
FIRE’s survey polled 6,269 faculty members at 55 major colleges and universities over a three-month period. According to FIRE, faculty reported a “fraught campus atmosphere in which wide swaths of those surveyed admitted to hiding their political views to avoid censure.”
Faculty at the University of Michigan, Michigan’s oldest institution of higher education, submitted 274 responses to the survey, making it the university with the most faculty surveyed and the only Michigan school surveyed.
The University of Michigan’s DEI department states that its goal is to foster an “inclusive and equitable community.” Yet, faculty members disagree.
“You cannot question DEI, cannot reason against DEI, or speak about anything related to DEI (unless you constantly virtue signal and support it unquestionably),” a University of Michigan professor told FIRE.
DEI is just one part of the broader conversation happening in higher education about freedom of speech.
The FIRE survey found the majority of faculty listed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, affirmative action, and racial inequality as the hardest topics to discuss on campus.
Thirty-seven percent of respondents said it is “not at all clear” or “not very clear” that the administration protects free speech, while 18% said they often hide their political beliefs in “an attempt to keep their job.” Forty-two percent also said that they believe academic freedom is not “secure” on campus.
“The universities have traded ideas for ideology,” one University of Michigan professor told FIRE. “I never feel comfortable speaking about issues related to DEI or transgender issues. The university I work at has adopted a stance on both of these issues that cannot be question[ed] without fear of reprisal, sanction, or ostracization from the academic community.”
Overall, Michigan faculty’s responses nearly mirrored the national results, which found that faculty members are four times more likely to self-censor than in the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War.
