Penn joins Harvard in ending sociopolitical statements

The University of Pennsylvania joined Harvard University in ending sociopolitical statements, introducing a new policy following the resignation of the school’s president and police removing a pro-Palestinian encampment. 

The news of the decision was announced Tuesday by the school’s administrators, when they informed the campus community that the school will stop issuing statements in response to world and local events, except “those which have direct and significant bearing on University functions.” 

“It is not the role of the institution to render opinions — doing so risks suppressing the creativity and academic freedom of our faculty and students,” the Ivy League school’s administrators wrote in a statement that was emailed to the university community. 

“Even as they seem to provide emotional support to individuals in our communities, institutional pronouncements undermine the diversity of thought that strengthens us and that is central to our missions,” the administrators said. 

The school’s new approach comes as the school’s previous president, Liz Magill, resigned in early December last year after the criticism she received for her comments during a House hearing on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses. 

The Ivy League school also issued new temporary rules in June last year around protests after arresting more than 30 people on its Philadelphia campus. The new rules ban overnight demonstrations and encampments “in any University location, regardless of space (indoor or outdoor). Unauthorized overnight activities will be considered trespassing and addressed.” 

Harvard announced in late May this year that the school will no longer comment on issues unrelated to the “core function” of the school. Haverford College shared that the school made a similar decision, saying in late August this year its president will forgo “issuing presidential ‘statements’ except about matters that directly impact Haverford or higher education.” 

“The University will issue messages on local or world events rarely, and only when those events lie within our operational remit,” University of Pennsylvania administrators said.