Upholding Brown’s Values and Community Standards

Announcements

As we approach Convocation each academic year, we write to students, faculty and staff to encourage our community to reflect together on the values and standards that sustain Brown as a vibrant community of teaching, learning, research and discovery. The formal opening of the new year provides an opportunity to think about what it means to share “responsibility for a thriving academic community,” which is one of Brown’s core institutional values. We ask every member of our community to become familiar with the policies and codes of conduct that uphold Brown’s values and foster an environment in which all can participate fully in University life.

In this letter, we remind our community (1) how our decades-long commitment to protecting freedom of expression continues to guide us as an institution; (2) that we have standards for protests and demonstrations that apply throughout the year to ensure respect for the rights of others; and (3) that we share responsibility for being familiar with policies and codes of conduct that safeguard our mission and values.

Please read this letter closely. Whether you are new to Brown or a longtime member of our community, we advise taking this time each year to review Brown’s Statement of University Values and Voice. Adopted in 2025 following a faculty-led process and broad community input, and approved by the Corporation of Brown University, it is Brown’s policy statement that articulates the core values that guide the institution in fulfilling its mission. Each year, we reaffirm that the character and strength of our academic community depend on how each of us puts them into practice.

1. Protecting Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression

Academic freedom — defined in Brown’s core institutional values as the freedom to investigate and learn without interference or censorship — is essential to the function of education and to the pursuit of scholarship. This establishes the foundation of Brown’s mission, dating back to the University’s longstanding “Statement on Academic Freedom for Faculty and Students,” first approved by the Corporation in 1966 and incorporated into the Faculty Rules and Regulations. It affirms that “faculty members and students alike shall enjoy full freedom in their teaching, learning and research.”

A shared commitment to freedom of expression likewise ensures that members of our community can communicate ideas, question assumptions, engage in debate and express disagreement, while also respecting the rights of others to do the same. We each are responsible for making sure that our classmates, students and colleagues can access University resources, facilities and activities free from interference, censorship, discrimination and harassment.

Brown and other colleges and universities continue to navigate periods of momentous change on our campuses, as well as a changing national policy landscape that sometimes affects our communities in significant ways. The ability of one person or group to express a viewpoint cannot come at the expense of the rights of other individuals or groups. And by asserting a right to protest or demonstrate, no individual or group can decide for the wider Brown community which ideas will or will not receive free expression.

For more than 60 years, these principles have guided Brown through periods of significant social change, political division and fervent debate. They remain essential today. We ask every member of our community to help sustain an environment in which ideas can be tested, challenged and debated vigorously while others' rights are respected.

2. Community Standards for Protest, Demonstration and Respectful Disagreement

Protest and demonstration have long been respected forms of expression at Brown. This is reflected in our core values, which recognize “the right to communicate ideas and engage in reasoned and informed protest, dissent and criticism.”

At the same time, Brown has longstanding standards governing the time, place and manner of protest and demonstration so that all community members can teach, learn, work and participate fully in University life. Protests or demonstrations may not interfere with the rights of others to peaceful assembly or the free exchange of ideas, materially disrupt University functions, block access or passage, or involve unauthorized entry into or use of University spaces.

Discrimination, harassment or any behavior that seeks to silence or intimidate others runs directly counter to the commitment to uphold the right to learn and discover without interference articulated in Brown’s mission (specifically, we “serve the community, the nation and the world by discovering, communicating and preserving knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquiry”) and cannot be tolerated.

Brown is committed to firmly enforcing its policies and pursuing appropriate disciplinary action when violations occur. This applies to Brown’s Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy, as well as other policies and codes of conduct. A list of associated policies is included in the next section of this letter.

3. Policies Safeguarding our Community Values

Brown’s policies provide practical guidance for putting our institutional values and shared community standards into practice. Together, they help sustain the conditions necessary for a thriving academic community.

These policies address a wide range of activities and responsibilities across University life. We encourage all members of the Brown community to become familiar with the policies relevant to their roles and activities and to consult the University Policies website throughout the year for the most current guidance.

Questions or Concerns

If you have questions about a University policy or believe a policy may have been violated, please consult the reporting or contact information provided in the relevant policy. Brown also provides a range of reporting options for concerns involving discrimination or harassment, as well as potential violations of the University’s codes of conduct.

Looking Ahead

With the new academic year, we have an opportunity to reaffirm who we are as a community and the values that guide our work together. At Brown’s core is a commitment to excellence, sustained by students who approach their studies with curiosity and determination to make an impact, faculty who advance knowledge through teaching and scholarship, and staff who foster an environment where learning, mentorship and discovery thrive.

We sustain this excellence by recognizing that Brown is enriched by the diversity of ideas, perspectives and experiences that shape our community. These differences deepen our learning and understanding, especially when we engage them with openness, curiosity and a willingness to learn from one another.

We look forward to the year ahead and all that we will learn, discover and accomplish together. And we hope to see you at a celebratory Opening Convocation on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Sincerely,

Francis J. Doyle III, Provost

Dr. Patricia Poitevien, Vice President for Campus Life

Marie Williams, Vice President for Human Resources