Prof. Liliana Zaragoza Quoted in Star Tribune About Board of Regents Resolution Outlining Faculty Members’ Ability to Speak for the University

Professor Liliana Zaragoza was quoted in the Star Tribune about a resolution by the University of Minnesota Board of Regents that some faculty members say could limit academic freedom and speech. A petition signed by more than 400 academics have asked the board to retract the resolution, which could be approved as early as this Friday. Introduced in mid-February, it concerns who is allowed to officially speak for the University and what kinds of issues they can address. Universities across the country have been debating issues related to academic freedom over the past several years, some brought to the forefront after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and the resulting protests and public outcry. Prof. Zaragoza said the board’s resolution infringes on faculty members’ First Amendment rights because it allows the president to pick which statements are acceptable. She said the resolution is vague because it’s not clear what terms such as “units” and “matters of public concern and interest” actually mean. For instance, is the law clinic she’s the director of considered “a unit” and could the resolution prevent the clinic — which offers free legal services — from making legal filings or speaking with reporters? As it’s written, she thinks it could. She said while regents have said they believe the resolution protects individual rights, universities are places where faculty and staff work together in groups. She said, “The ability to speak as units of people who have come together [is] one of the points of an academic institution.”