CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WPTF) – The UNC System Board of Governors has approved an official definition of academic freedom, voting unanimously in favor of the policy on Thursday, which was proposed on Dec. 5, 2025. UNC System President Peter Hans says the policy will provide reasonable guidance.
“How to balance academic liberties with professional responsibilities and areas of expertise, and how the rights and privileges of faculty exist alongside those of students,” Hans said.
The proposal defines academic freedom as “the foundational principle that protects the rights of all faculty to engage in teaching, research/creative activities, service and scholarly inquiry without undue influence.”
Hans adds that the idea is not to create limits, but to create clarity. “It expressly protects the expiration of controversial or unpopular ideas, which is a freedom dear to the American experiment itself.”
However, the new definition has received pushback from the North Carolina Conference of the American Association of University Professors, as well as the UNC Chapel Hill chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
A letter from the AAUP to the UNC System reads in part, “Much of the language in the resolution and proposed additional language is also vague, and therefore, risks creating an academic environment that is inconsistent with principles of academic freedom and free speech articulated by the United States Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit.”