In many ways, the horrifying attacks of October 7, 2023 were a watershed moment for American universities. Amid sometimes-violent campus protests over the war in Gaza and the tense congressional hearings that followed, the whole nation saw what close observers had noted for some time: that too many universities had drifted from the core values and principles that had enabled them to carry out their missions and made them the envy of the world. The resulting perception was that many of the nation’s top institutions had become rudderless at best or politicized at worst. On some campuses, this revelation came at the expense of Jewish students’ sense of safety and belonging. The ramifications are still playing out as universities reflect on what they stand for and take mitigating actions that are bound to shape campus life for years.
At Vanderbilt, we’ve navigated these turbulent waters by using as our guide our core purpose of pathbreaking research and transformative education, grounded in our value of free expression, which we’ve formulated as three pillars.
The first pillar is the principle of open forums—a university’s commitment to providing plenty of spaces where issues can be explored and discussed without the threat of censorship.
The second pillar is civil discourse—the expectation and facilitation of constructive conversation and debate among people of differing viewpoints, characterized by basic respect, a willingness to listen and be persuaded by the better argument, and a resistance to rushing to the moral condemnation of opponents.
The third principle—institutional neutrality—is perhaps the least understood, but it is no less essential to a university’s ability to serve its purpose. It is the commitment of a university and its leaders to refrain from taking public positions on controversial issues unless the issue directly affects the core mission and functioning of the university. The principle of neutrality applies to universities and their leaders, speaking in an official capacity. Its purpose is to provide students and faculty with the greatest possible freedom for speech, debate, and intellectual exploration.
During the spring 2024 protests, these pillars were tested. They held because we had communicated about them clearly and then had the courage to act on them when they were challenged.
In the aftermath of October 7, Vanderbilt students held several demonstrations on both sides of the Israel-Gaza debate that were thoughtful, peaceful, and invited dialogue. But one March morning, just over two dozen students supporting the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement (BDS) forced their way into the university’s main administrative building, injuring a community-service officer and occupying a lobby outside my office.
After our attempts to de-escalate the situation failed, several students were arrested, and all the occupying students were put on interim suspension. These students were then subject to our standard disciplinary process. After a few weeks, some were expelled, some suspended, and some put on extended probation.
When universities are tested, each must follow its own path. Vanderbilt’s approach is clear: we clearly state the values and rules that support our mission as a university. Then we enforce them.
At Vanderbilt students are free to demonstrate—subject, like all student groups, to reasonable limits on time, place, and manner. Peaceful protests are consistent with our commitment to open forums. But protests cannot disrupt university operations, and they certainly cannot endanger the safety of anyone in our community.
Vanderbilt did not and will not adopt BDS principles. Institutional neutrality dictates that we don’t use our endowment for political purposes. And engaging in civil discourse isn’t just an expectation—it is what our undergraduates agree to when they sign our community creed before taking a single class. During the same week that small group of students stormed our administrative building, others held thoughtful and candid in-class discussions with both Michael Herzog, the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., and Salam Fayyad, a former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. They learned the invaluable lesson that more understanding is gained through meaningful dialogue than through pure disruption or outbursts of emotion.
It is wisdom that might be spreading.
For many years, Vanderbilt, the University of Chicago, and a few other institutions were alone in advocating for strict adherence to the pillars of free expression. But since the spring 2024 protests, more universities have seen the value of this approach. More than 140 have adopted policies of institutional neutrality. Not enough of them have extended their policies to actions as well as words, so that divestment and boycotts are as off-limits as official statements on political matters. And several leading schools have adopted a half-measure called “institutional restraint,” which allows occasional position-taking, including selective divestment. It is nonetheless encouraging that so many universities are rediscovering these values after many years in which they seemed to be fading.
Free expression is essential for a transformative education. It needs to be paired with an environment that fosters growth and development. That means clear anti-discrimination and harassment policies, including protections against anti-Semitism. But it also means creating an environment where students can grow both academically and as people.
Jewish life at Vanderbilt is lively and thriving, a vivid and important thread in our community fabric. This includes annual Rosh Hashanah dinners and Passover seders attended by more than 500 students—Jewish and non-Jewish alike—on our central lawn. It includes hosting the longest-running Holocaust lecture series of any university in the country. And it includes programs like our We Are Here: Songs from the Holocaust concert, performed this past January to a capacity crowd on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
We also work closely with Jewish student organizations like Hillel and Chabad; offer robust academic programming in Jewish studies; and provide a dedicated kosher dining hall along with other religious accommodations.
The problems that led some universities to the mistakes of the spring of 2024 developed over many years and will not be resolved overnight. And the heightened federal scrutiny of universities, including proposed cuts in research funding and the policing of discrimination policies, makes already complicated problems more complex. But the painful lessons from how campuses responded to the October 7 Hamas attacks and the war in Gaza seem, so far, to be helping universities stay focused on their purpose and take more steps to ensure an environment where all students can thrive.
American higher education is at a crossroads. Ideological forces within and outside of campuses have pulled too many universities away from the core purpose, principles, and values that made them global leaders in education, research and innovation.
It is imperative that universities reaffirm and protect these core principles, strengthen their compact with the American people, and build on their unmatched capacity for teaching and innovation. They must do so not only because universities provide education that is transformative and research that improves everyday life—but also because their work is vital to American prosperity, competitiveness and national security.
