UNL Policy on Free Speech and Academic Freedom

 

July 21, 2021

To the Faculty, Staff and Students of the University of Nebraska:

Recently there has been a great deal of conversation across our campuses about academic freedom and its importance to our university. Today we issue the following unified statement in defense of freedom of expression for all members of the University of Nebraska community:

The free and open pursuit of ideas is a cherished principle in higher education, and its preservation is vital for any great university. As our policies and practices make clear, the University of Nebraska is strongly committed to academic freedom. We support and defend the liberties our teachers and learners have to freely discuss ideas in and outside of the classroom.

Our central mission is to educate Nebraska’s future leaders, and in preparing students to be thoughtful and engaged citizens, our instructors expose them to any number of concepts and ideas. Issues around race, equity and the fight against racism are an important part of our country’s story and they have an appropriate place in our classrooms. Our policies guard against the introduction of matters that are irrelevant to the subject at hand. We further expect and believe that in discussing ideas, our instructors make their classrooms places of robust and open debate, where all viewpoints are considered and all may express their opinions freely. That commitment to free expression is at the heart of our work as an institution of higher learning.

 

Ted Carter
President, University of Nebraska System

Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D.
Chancellor, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Ronnie D. Green, Ph.D.
Chancellor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Doug Kristensen, J.D.
Chancellor, University of Nebraska at Kearney

Joanne Li, Ph.D., C.F.A.
Chancellor, University of Nebraska at Omaha

 

Religion Clause Blog: "7th Circuit En Banc: Ministerial Exception Applies To Hostile Work Environment Claims"

 Here is the post:

In Demkovich v. St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Calumet City, (7th Cir., July 9, 2021), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, held by a vote of 7-3 that the ministerial exception doctrine applies to protect religious organizations from  hostile work environment claims alleging minister-on-minister harassment. A 3-judge panel had reach the opposite conclusion. At issue is derogatory and demeaning comments made to the church's gay music director by the church's pastor. The majority opinion, written by Judge Brennan, said in part:

This case concerns what one minister, Reverend Dada, said to another, Demkovich. Adjudicating Demkovich’s allegations of minister-on-minister harassment would not only undercut a religious organization’s constitutionally protected relationship with its ministers, but also cause civil intrusion into, and excessive entanglement with, the religious sphere.

Judge Hamilton filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Judges Rovner and Wood, saying in part: 

[P]laintiff is not asking the court to pass on the substance of the Catholic Church’s religious doctrines or practices. Civil courts have nothing to say about whether the Church should permit same-sex marriage, for example, or whether the Church should have a hierarchical supervisory structure. The Church was free to decide whether to retain plaintiff or fire him. But plaintiff’s hostile work environment claims allege conduct that constituted abuse under neutral, generally applicable standards that would be enforceable on behalf of a non-ministerial employee. That conduct is, by definition, not necessary to control or supervise any employee.

Bloomberg Law reports on the decision.

 

I think the 7th Circuit got this issue right--under the First Amendment, government has no business regulating internal matters of church ministry.

First Amendment Protects All Cake Artists From Compelled Artistic Expression

 

                                                     From Jack Phillips to This Guy

The Babylon Bee is the best!