Campbell Comments on Passage of Tenure Reform Bill

Last week, Feb. 27, the House Chamber passed Senate Bill 202 which now returns to the Senate for further consideration. SB 202 – authored by State Sen. Spencer Deery (R- West Lafayette) – reshapes tenure and promotion policies and requires public universities to consider “intellectual diversity” when conducting faculty reviews, tenure considerations and student recruitment. The Purdue University Senate and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) have openly criticized the legislation. 

It’s disheartening to see someone from my community carry this legislation. From the amount of correspondence I’ve received, I know SB 202 fails to represent the views of my constituents and the Purdue faculty. We’re proud to be a college town, and many members of our community are successful, tenured professors. They’ve worked hard for West Lafayette and for our state through their research and development, but this bill calls their dedication to their fields into question. Dozens of faculty members from Purdue University have testified against this bill and the hardship it will create.

In many ways, this bill acts as the proverbial thought police. It seeks to punish faculty for things they are ‘likely to do’ instead of actual misdeeds. It places vague, concerning standards on our public universities and their faculty without clear guidelines. Individual faculty should be judged by the standards of their field, not by a particular student or board member who believes they fail an ideological litmus test. 

Intellectual diversity and academic freedom are important, and we have standards in place to protect them. It's important to ensure our students feel valued, and it’s essential to ensure our students can speak their minds. I don’t believe Indiana has a public university that squashes civil debate or free inquiry. This bill puts our universities and professors at risk by attempting to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. I’m saddened to see SB 202 pass since it will stifle academic freedom and is an overreach of our state government.

Sincerely,

Chris Campbell, District 26 State Representative