State Sen. Spencer Deery said it could take years for colleges to fully adjust to SEA 202. (Devan Ridgway, WTIU)
A small group of students and faculty held a candlelight vigil Sunday night and into the early hours of Monday at Indiana University’s Sample Gates. Candles flickered late into the night as protesters mourned the loss of free speech.
The vigil ended peacefully. A few hours later, classes were in session for the new academic year.
Those protesters took aim at a new I-U policy by gathering after an 11 p.m. cutoff for “expressive activity.” But later Monday, the group said it had another reason to mourn: Senate Enrolled Act 202.
“We want to protect IU,” professor Heather Akou said. “We want this campus to be a place where academic freedom is a real thing, a place where racial diversity and other kinds of diversity is both welcome and honored.”
Act requires “intellectual diversity”
SEA 202 requires faculty to teach “intellectually diverse” ideas in the classroom. If they don't, their tenure could be in jeopardy. The law also sets up a complaint process, so faculty could be reported for violating the act. Diversity, equity and inclusion programs also must support “intellectual diversity.”
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the law last spring, despite protests from professors around the state. IU President Pamela Whitten also spoke out against it. Colleges are working to align policies with the law.
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Boards of trustees at Indiana’s seven public colleges set policy for their institutions, and it could take years for colleges to fully adjust.
Indiana State Sen. Spencer Deery wrote the policy. Supporters of the law say conservative students will feel more welcome on campus.
“We do a disservice to students of all political backgrounds if they're never challenged, and presented with the best scholarly evidence that might challenge those viewpoints,” Deery said.
Because every university is different, the lawmakers left the act open-ended. Intellectual diversity is defined as “multiple, divergent, and varied scholarly perspectives on an extensive range of public policy issues.”
The law is meant to strengthen debate on campus, not attack academic freedom. Tenure isn’t a lifetime appointment, he said.
“Universities should be about open, honest debate,” Deery said. “We need to have some disruptions to try and foster that debate, because frankly, it hasn't been the culture in the last couple of decades.”
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As for changes to tenure review, Deery said tenure isn’t supposed to be an “open- ended, lifetime appointment.”
“The law says that if you're going to have basically lifetime employment, you're going to occasionally need to come in for a meaningful performance review to make sure you're meeting the standards of the trustees, as well as including that you're valuing free speech, that you're valuing fostering debate” Deery said.
Censorship and surveillance on college campuses
The law’s lack of precision has been harshly criticized. Academics pushed hard against the legislation, saying this kind of political action will lead to censorship and surveillance. Other states with more extreme anti-DEI laws from conservative lawmakers — like Florida and Texas — are cutting programs and losing staff.
Faculty members in this report can only speak for themselves, and they don’t represent their universities.
Stephanie Masta, Purdue University associate professor for education, joined other Boilermaker instructors in opposing the bill last spring. Now, she’s worried about how the law will be enforced, especially considering its vague aspects.
For example, colleges must create ways to discipline employees or students who “materially” and “substantially” disrupt protected speech of another person.
“If there is an opportunity for faculty to weigh in, that would be one of my first concerns,” Masta said. “So, what is material? What is substantial? What does that look like? Or is it just something that's kind of in the eye of the beholder?”
Colleges must set up systems for reporting faculty who don’t teach intellectually diverse ideas. These complaints will be factored into tenure and promotion decisions. Even if complaints are dismissed, instructors can provide a written response.
Purdue’s interim policy states Human Resources will handle the complaints. Masta, who researches Indigenous education, said she and other faculty are rethinking what they bring to the classroom.
“I already have colleagues who are self-censoring, who are removing appropriate content from their classes,” Masta said. “Laws like this work because people just start to give themselves consequences. They don't want to do anything to perhaps raise any red flags.”
Deery said there’s no mandate for professors to teach another side of an issue when it’s “clearly ridiculous.”
IU is working on a reporting system with EthicsPoint, which the university already uses for reporting fraud and other illegal activities. Under an interim policy while lawyers and faculty leaders sort out long-term changes, instructors have pushed back against anonymous reporting.
“The bill creates a surveillance system where any student in a classroom — actually any student at Indiana University, actually any student or anyone in Indiana or anywhere in the nation — could file a complaint against any faculty if they did not agree with what that faculty was presenting,” professor Russ Skiba said.
Both Purdue and IU declined an interview, but leaders said in official communications they support academic freedom.
‘Don’t panic yet’
Colleges are still sorting out how to proceed.
“I think we don't know enough yet to know if it's going to turn out badly,” Alex Tanford, IU law professor emeritus, said. “Don't panic yet, is my view. There'll be plenty of time to panic down the road.”
The law doesn’t give Boards of Trustees new, unprecedented power, he said. Faculty reviews are already in place. Instructors already share many ideas in the classroom.
But faculty don’t trust their leaders and administrators, Tanford said. At IU, faculty have passed votes of no confidence against Whitten and other leaders. Indiana State Police arrested students and professors for encampment protests. They frequently spoke out for the need for shared governance.
“But again, that's fear. It's not reality yet,” Tanford said. “None of these reviews has yet taken place. None of the guidances have yet been enacted. “
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IU issued guidance for instructors this week. According to a letter from Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty and Bloomington Faculty Council President Danielle De Sawal, faculty still have control over the content of their courses.
Lindsey Eberman, professor and program director at Indiana State University, testified when the bill was being developed.
“I think the hard part for us was that this bill assumed that we were already incapable of doing our work,” Eberman said. “We feel like we have both the structure and the culture that includes diverse opinions in our classroom and navigates those difficult conversations with our students.”
Eberman helped shape ISU’s policy with the faculty senate. The group presented the new policy to the Board of Trustees. She said it recognized the law, but it also “embraced what we already do here at Indiana State” by including many voices in the classroom and fact-based tenure review.
Eberman occasionally teaches political content, such as patient-centered care for marginalized people. She’s going to continue to teach students the way she’s been doing, she said, because that’s what’s best for patients and students outside of the classroom.
“Even if we are offering diverse viewpoints and sharing how different viewpoints are impacting the larger discourse, we do have to share our expert opinion on that,” Eberman said. “That doesn't mean we don't also allow students to bring their informed opinion to the space and to share their thoughts around what's happening.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
