The Opinionated University: Academic Freedom, Diversity, and the Myth of Neutrality in American Higher Education

by Brian Soucek

Overview

Why institutional neutrality is nothing but an illusion.
 
Can a university ever truly be neutral in today’s social and political climate? Pushing against the tide of universities increasingly pledging to stay neutral about contentious issues, law professor Brian Soucek argues that their promises are doomed to fail—universities can’t help being opinionated.

In The Opinionated University, Soucek shows that neutrality is a myth by taking a deep dive into several prominent campus controversies of the day, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and restrictions on campus speech and protest. Each issue requires universities to choose a side in what they do, if not also in what they say. In everything from curricular and admissions decisions to their response to outside rankings and their evaluation of faculty, universities express the values at the heart of their mission. Soucek argues that those pushing for neutrality are only preventing universities from standing up for their values, whether in today’s current moment of crisis or in periods of political calm.

Both timely and deeply engaging, The Opinionated University calls on universities to dispense with neutrality as a governing principle and focus instead on what their mission should be, and who should determine it.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226846149
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	01/12/2026
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240

About the Author

Brian Soucek is a Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis. A scholar of free speech and equality law, Soucek has shaped national policy on academic freedom, nondiscrimination, and campus speech through his work with the American Association of University Professors’ “Committee A” on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the University of California’s Academic Senate.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Myth of Neutrality

1. Diversity Statements: A Performance Evaluation, Not a Litmus Test

Loyalty Oaths

Viewpoint Discrimination

Academic Freedom

Race Discrimination

2. Distraction and Hypocrisy: Ignoring the Real Threats to Academic Freedom

Student Teaching Evaluations

The Rankings Racket

3. Institutional Speech: Silence Is Not Always Silent

Kalvenist Missionaries

Is Neutrality Possible?

Areas of Agreement

Department Statements

4. Institutional Counterspeech: “The Remedy for Speech That Is False Is Speech That Is True”

Countering Inequality

Countering Other Speech

5. Regulating Campus Speech: When More Speech Isn’t Necessarily Better

Quad Speech

Classroom Speech

Coda: Who Should Decide a University’s Opinions?

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Soucek provides a nuanced approach to some of the most pressing issues surrounding university speech today. The book is rooted not only in his deep understanding of constitutional law and academic freedom, but also in a fine-grained view of how a university operates, as he considers the perspectives of students, faculty, administrators, parents, and politicians."

— Sigal R. Ben-Porath, author of 'Cancel Wars: How Universities Can Foster Free Speech, Promote Inclusion, and Renew Democracy'

"In clear and compelling terms, The Opinionated University exposes 'institutional neutrality' as a myth. Brian Soucek argues that any definition of a university’s mission—its admission and hiring standards, its curriculum, its rules of conduct for faculty and students, the way it protects or denies free speech and academic freedom—reflects the values of the institution.  It is those values that are currently under attack. The book offers a way of understanding the attacks and countering them—not with false declarations of neutrality, but with reasoned critical analysis of the political work such declarations perform."

— Joan W. Scott, author of 'Knowledge, Power, and Academic Freedom'

"Soucek addresses today’s highly controversial issues of academic freedom, diversity, and inclusion in a readily accessible conversational style. While asserting his own clear point of view, he is undogmatic, balanced, and consistently charitable toward opposing viewpoints."

— Paul Brest, former dean and emeritus professor, Stanford Law School

"At a time when an authoritarian federal government is applying enormous pressure to force schools to align with the ideology of the president, Brian Soucek reminds us that the so-called neutrality principle can be a cover for quietism and collaboration. If universities don’t defend their values, who will?"

— Michael S. Roth, President, Wesleyan University

From the Publisher