Given recent, disturbing attacks on education at the federal level, we urgently need leaders of educational institutions to publicly defend the values that are central to these institutions. But at MU and elsewhere, senior leaders have so far failed to make a strong, public stand for these values, such as academic freedom.
That failure means that this defense falls to us. One place to begin is academic freedom as defined at MU. Nothing that has happened in 2025 has changed the meaning of academic freedom at MU. More pointedly, there is no “DEI exception” to academic freedom at MU. Our colleagues and students studying structural and systemic racism and/or fostering inclusion and equity have the same academic freedom as everyone else. We should therefore continue to rely on long-standing definitions of academic freedom and do whatever we can to insist that the MU administration lives up to these definitions and does not waver from them.
Academic freedom’s importance to the University of Missouri System is shown by how often it is mentioned in the Collected Rules and Regulations (CRRs): over 20 times in 12 different CRRs, not including various references in the Faculty Bylaws (Chapter 300).
Academic freedom is most fully discussed in CRR 310.010 on “Academic Freedom and Economic Security of Academic Staff,” quoted here in its entirety:
The Board of Curators of the University of Missouri believes that academic freedom and the economic security of its academic staff are indispensable to the success of the University of Missouri in fulfilling its obligations to its students and to society. The Board, therefore, hereby adopts and approves the following principles, the detailed application of which is implemented by the rules and regulations of the Board; and also adopts the following rules and regulations. (Although these rules and regulations cover in some detail certain aspects of the nature of regular academic staff positions, appointments thereto, and the rights of the holders thereof, these rules and regulations do not purport to cover in the same detail the nature of nonregular academic staff positions, appointments thereto, or the rights of the holders thereof, and do not purport to cover in any way non-academic staff.)
A. General Principles of Academic Freedom — The Board hereby reaffirms the principles of academic freedom in teaching and research for teachers and academic investigators (herein referred to as faculty members). These principles are as follows:
- Institutions of higher education are established and maintained for the common good, which depends upon the free search for truth and its free expression.
- Academic freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research. Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth. Academic freedom in its teaching aspect is fundamental to the protection of the rights of the faculty member in teaching and of the student in learning. It carries with it duties correlative with rights. The following sections are indicative of these rights and duties.
- Faculty members are entitled to freedom in research and in the publication of the results (qualified insofar as necessary in the case of sponsored research), subject to the adequate performance of their other academic duties.
- Faculty members are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects, but have the responsibility not to depart significantly from their respective areas of competence or to divert substantial time to material extraneous to the course.
- College or university faculty members are citizens, members of an educational institution, and members of learned professions. When they speak or write as citizens, they are to be free from institutional censorship or discipline, but their special position in the community imposes special obligations. They should anticipate that the public may judge their profession and their institution by their utterances and actions. Hence, they should at all times be accurate, exercise appropriate restraint, show respect for the opinions of others, and make every effort to indicate that they do not speak for the institution.
B. The Principle of Tenure–Tenure is the right to be free from dismissal without cause. Tenure is indispensable to the success of an institution of higher education in fulfilling its obligations to the common good.
(Much of the above language is drawn from the AAUP’s 1940 statement on academic freedom.)
Other references to academic freedom in the CRRs are also worth noting:
“Faculty members have rights that stem from the University’s Collected Rules and Regulations, from the application of the general principles of academic freedom, and from the role of faculty members in the shared governance structure within the University of Missouri.” (CRR 330.100)
“Faculty Members observe the stated regulations of the institution, provided the regulations do not contravene academic freedom, and maintain their right to criticize and seek revision.” (CRR 330.110.D.4)
“Prior to the stated ending date of their term appointments, NTT faculty members have the same academic protections regarding academic freedom as tenured and tenure track faculty.” (CRR 310.035.L)
The Academic Grievance Procedure states that “an infringement on the academic freedom of the faculty member” (CRR 370.010.A.1.b) automatically qualifies as a legitimate grievance (see also CRR 310.020.F.3.b–c, 320.150.B.6.a, and 600.040.B).
“By fostering creativity and protecting academic freedom, tenure safeguards faculty from unfair dismissal based on arbitrary or discriminatory practices, thus encouraging the constant search for truth that is the hallmark of the University.” (CRR 310.015.B)
“The University values the principles of academic freedom and privacy and does not condone casual inspection of the information contained within or transmitted via these resources.” (CRR 110.005.A)
In 2011, CRR 200.015 was added to detail “the importance of academic inquiry and discourse for students.”
Finally, the Board Bylaws states that one of the duties and responsibilities of the UM System Curators is “To accept and defend academic freedom and the practice of collaboration governance as fundamental characteristics of good University governance” (CRR 10.030.B.2.d).
Feel free to share this with other interested colleagues. If you are concerned about the state of academic freedom at MU, please consider becoming active in the MU chapter of the AAUP; feel free to contact me. We need to work together in these challenging times.