Indiana University could adopt a new set of free speech values called the Chicago Principles, according to a memo published by the IndyStar on Monday.
In the undated memo, President Pamela Whitten asked the University Faculty Council to examine the Chicago Principles and make a recommendation on whether the university should adopt the standards. IU Executive Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs Mark Bode confirmed the veracity of the memo to the Indiana Daily Student.
The Chicago Principles, sometimes called the Chicago Statement, refer to a report produced by the Committee on Freedom of Expression at the University of Chicago in 2015. Over 100 educational institutions have adopted the statement, including several Big Ten schools.
Among other free speech commitments, the three-page statement says “Because the University is committed to free and open inquiry in all matters, it guarantees all members of the University community the broadest possible latitude to speak, write, listen, challenge, and learn.”
It also says “debate or deliberation may not be suppressed because the ideas put forth are thought by some or even by most members of the University community to be offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed.”
IU has faced public scrutiny over its approach to First Amendment rights. In September, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression ranked the university third-worst out of 257 schools for free speech ratings.
That rating stemmed from “speech controversies” that occurred between 2024 and 2025, several of which had to do with IU’s Expressive Activity Policy.
The Expressive Activity Policy, or BOT-33, serves as IU’s free speech policy. It says IU is committed to protecting the rights of students, academic appointees, staff, guests and visitors to assemble, speak in public areas of campus, write, publish and invite speakers on any subject.
Several stipulations are included regarding how individuals can participate in expressive activity. Expressive activity “may not materially and substantially disrupt official activities, business, or operations of the University,” according to the IU policy.
Under the policy, temporary structures, like tents, involved in expressive activity must be pre-approved by the university. This contingency was added to the policy the night before the start of a pro-Palestinian encampment on Dunn Meadow in April 2024, resulting in the arrest of over 50 protestors over two days.
IU also met criticism in October for firing former IDS adviser Jim Rodenbush after he refused to censor the IDS. IU also initially ordered the IDS to stop producing its print edition, but ultimately rolled back that decision after facing backlash.
This month, IU School of Social Work lecturer Jessica Adams was removed from teaching her class following an intellectual diversity complaint about a lesson where she mentioned white supremacy.
In response to these speech controversies, FIRE began a billboard campaign condemning IU’s actions. The first billboard in the campaign, located near IU campus, reads, “Indiana University covered up the truth. What are they hiding?”
Laura Beltz, director of policy reform at FIRE, said “the devil will be in the details” when it comes to whether IU will adhere to the Chicago Principles.
“I think that if the university were to adopt a statement making a commitment to free speech clear, that would be a great first step,” Beltz said. “The university would then, of course, have to actually live by those principles, and so when controversies come in the future, we'd want to see the university then invoking that statement to protect students’ free speech rights and faculty members’ academic freedom rights.”
Beltz said the Expressive Activity Policy and the Chicago Principles operate differently, with the Expressive Activity Policy being a nuts-and-bolts set of rules that can change depending on university circumstances and the Chicago Principles being a pre-existing set of values.
“I think that there is a little bit of a difference, where this sort of commitment would be something that guides the university, that isn't a moving target, that isn’t changed the night before a protest,” Beltz said.
Columbia University, one of two schools ranked lower than IU on FIRE’s free speech rankings, adopted the Chicago Principles in 2016, according to The Chicago Maroon. Major free speech controversies, including the school’s approach to its own pro-Palestinian encampment, have occurred at Columbia University since.
Beltz said that the Chicago Statement is a set of principles rather than an enforceable policy, which is how instances like the one at Columbia University can happen.
"At the end of the day, if they aren't actually going to apply the principles and practice, it's not worth much, and it's not going to be this fantasy that cures all of the issues,” Beltz said. “They're going to actually have to live up to it and practice it.”
