Provost-Senate Task Force on Academic Freedom and Professional Responsibility

Doheny Library
General images of University Park Campus, July 9, 2019. (Photo/Gus Ruelas)

January 15, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

For all of you affected by the wildfires around the LA-area, our thoughts and concerns are with you. Our teams at the university and within the schools are in close touch with those in need. If you or anyone you know have experienced serious disruptions and have not communicated your situation with us, please do not hesitate to notify us by filling out the the LA Wildfires Employee Impact Form so that the Campus Support and Intervention team may reach out.

Today, we write to announce the creation of the Provost-Senate Joint Task Force on Academic Freedom and Professional Responsibility.

Academic freedom, free expression, and open discourse are among USC’s core values and essential to advancing the university’s educational and research missions. Across the country, those values are being tested in new and unexpected ways, and sometimes causing significant disruption to university communities. The purpose of this message is to announce the creation of a joint Provost-Senate task force to review USC’s existing policies and procedures in light of ongoing developments across the country and at USC. The task force will assess how well prepared the university is to meet emerging challenges, examine both the rights and responsibilities of faculty in defending and promoting academic freedom, and consider whether and how existing policies can be amended to provide a more robust institutional setting.

The task force is charged to:

  1. Summarize the state of academic freedom and open discourse in higher education.
  2. Summarize the legal environment regarding academic freedom, including federal laws (especially Title VI and Title IX), California’s Leonard Law, and agency rulings such as those from the Department of Education, and how those laws and regulations affect the university’s practices.
  3. Summarize the rights and responsibilities of faculty with respect to academic freedom and open discourse under current university policies, procedures, and practices.
  4. Consider whether modifications to university policies, procedures, and practices would support the core values of USC and help the university to advance its mission.

The task force is comprised of some of the university’s most distinguished professors from across the arts, humanities, social, and natural sciences. The university community will have an opportunity to offer input in the issues considered by the task force, and the task force’s report will be made public.

Sincerely,

Andrew T. Guzman
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Rima Jubran
President of the Academic Senate

Task Force Co-Chairs:
John MatsusakaCharles F. Sexton Chair in American Enterprise and Professor of Finance and Business Economics (Marshall School of Business)
Robert RasmussenJ. Thomas McCarthy Trustee Chair in Law and Political Science and Professor of Law (Gould School of Law)

Task Force Members:
Hossein HashemProfessor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Viterbi School of Engineering)
Velina Hasu-HoustonDistinguished Professor of Theatre in Dramatic Writing (School of Dramatic Arts)
Anna KrylovUSC Associates Chair in Natural Science and Professor of Chemistry (Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
Morris LevyAssociate Professor of Political Science and International Relations (Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
Etan Orgel; Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (Keck School of Medicine)
Dan Pecchenino; Professor (Teaching) of Writing and former President of the Academic Senate (Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
Neeraj SoodProfessor of Public Policy (Price School of Public Policy)
Miki TurnerProfessor of Professional Practice of Journalism (Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism)

Task Force Advisory Members:
Andrew GuzmanProvost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Beong-Soo KimSenior Vice President and General Counsel
Marty LevineVice Provost and Senior Advisor to the Provost; UPS Foundation Chair in Law and Gerontology, and Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Science (Gould School of Law)