Book Review: "The Opinionated University"

"Soucek has a much better and more nuanced approach to allowing departmental speech without infringing upon individual rights, creating policies that permit collective speech. But even he falls short. According to Soucek, "Deans and chairs do not generally enjoy academic freedom in their capacity as deans or chairs, as opposed to their faculty roles," and he adds that "no AAUP policies guarantee academic freedom for unit leadership when acting as administrators rather than faculty.""

"Soucek writes, "If universities are unavoidably opinionated, as this book argues, how should their opinions be formed?" Soucek's correct answer is "shared governance." But shared governance is [incomplete in the text]"

"The AAUP says about chairs, "The tendency of AAUP policy has been to view such persons as faculty rather than as administrators." And even presidents and top administrators should not face "arbitrary removal" for their views, according to an AAUP statement."

Soucek's book provides valuable insights on academic freedom and institutional neutrality, offering a more sophisticated framework for departmental statements than competing approaches. While Soucek improves upon Chemerinsky and Gillman's restrictive stance against collective faculty speech, his treatment of administrative academic freedom remains incomplete. He argues that deans and chairs lack academic freedom protections in administrative roles, yet AAUP policy traditionally views such positions as faculty roles deserving protection. Soucek advocates for democratic shared governance to determine institutional opinions, recognizing universities are inherently opinionated rather than neutral. However, his arguments for institutional speech lack grounding in democratic legitimacy principles.

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