Free Expression, Civil Discourse and Deeper Conversations

September 03, 2024

Dear Members of the CMU Community:

The new academic year is underway, and it’s certain to unfold within a complex landscape that includes a U.S. presidential election and ongoing geopolitical conflicts around the world, including in the Middle East. Accordingly, the role of higher education has never been more crucial or impactful as we seek to advance progress and understanding in an increasingly fractured world.

Whether in Pittsburgh, Doha, Kigali or locations across the globe, Carnegie Mellon is leaning into this critical mission. We are, first and foremost, an institution dedicated to educating the next generation of leaders, scholars and innovators — and empowering them to study complex topics, engage in meaningful dialogue and pose important questions. Our commitment to free expression is critical to nurturing this environment and remains unwavering. At the same time, we also recognize that the work of considering perspectives outside of our own can be deeply uncomfortable and may lead to heightened tensions.

Such friction is not a harbinger of failure but rather a natural byproduct of authentic engagement, capable of leading to profound understanding and insight. As we embark on this new academic year, it is our shared responsibility to nurture a campus environment where all voices can resonate freely but where the conditions for learning and personal development are sustained without disruption. I firmly believe we can both safeguard free speech and also maintain — for all in our community — an environment conducive to deep and focused engagement across education, research and creativity.

Last year, we launched Deeper Conversations to help navigate this balance and bring our community together for constructive and civil dialogue. This university-wide initiative aims to build bridges of understanding by offering opportunities to discuss and dissect intractable issues facing society. In the 2023-24 academic year, Deeper Conversations focused on exploring the crisis unfolding in Israel and Palestine and on combating hate. Programming was intentionally varied — spanning everything from scholarly lectures and panels to book discussions — and championed civil discourse throughout. Recent events, including a violent act of antisemitism impacting University of Pittsburgh students this past weekend, serve as urgent reminders that the work of combating hate and discrimination of all kinds must continue. As we have repeatedly stated: Hatred and bigotry are antithetical to the values that ground our diverse community and drive our academic mission.

This academic year, we are expanding our Deeper Conversations series to also include programming devoted to democracy and the U.S. election. The Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy have led the planning efforts for engaging in conversations about democracy and the U.S. election, and the deans of both colleges, Richard Scheines and Ramayya Krishnan, will soon write to the CMU community to share the lineup, including opportunities to participate virtually. We are confident that these discussions will provide our university community with helpful opportunities to respectfully disagree, embrace nuance, consider others and practice curious scholarship. I look forward to kicking off this year’s series next week on Sept. 11 and hope to see many of you there!

Finally, and against this backdrop, it’s worth noting that Carnegie Mellon seeks to advance our mission in ways that transcend politics, ideologies and differences. The university does not have a position on foreign policy or politics — nor should we — and we will continue to use our institutional voice with great restraint. In the past decade, when the CMU administration has issued statements during local crises or global challenges, it has been with the intent of supporting impacted community members, strengthening our sense of unity and underscoring values that are at the heart of our mission.

While you should not expect the university to speak about every national or international development, you can always count on the many channels of support that are available for students, faculty and staff during challenging times. I encourage you to utilize these resources, tools and engagement opportunities to support your learning, fuel your community connections and advance your well-being throughout the year.

So, here’s to an important year of advancing our mission and to learning, exploring, growing — and engaging in deeper conversations — together.

Respectfully,

Farnam Jahanian
President
Henry L. Hillman President’s Chair