Liberty Counsel Update on Tension Between DEI and Free Speech at Stanford University

Stanford reins in controversial reporting system after negative press, faculty concerns

Stanford University has adjusted its “Protected Identity Harm” reporting system after widespread criticism that it supported McCarthyism-styled tattle-telling on campus reminiscent of “totalitarian regimes.”

Administrators removed the ability to report anonymously, tightened the definition of what counts as an identity harm incident, and added wording to explain the reports are kept separate from academic and discipline records and people named in complaints are not contacted, according to screenshots of the website changes tracked by an academic watchdog.

The changes come after Stanford faculty, concerned about free speech and academic freedom on campus, created an “Ad Hoc Committee on University Speech” to review the reporting system and other First Amendment concerns.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression also piled on with criticisms of the anonymous reporting system, urging Stanford “to ensure it is not investigating protected speech, or suggesting complaints about protected speech may warrant formal administrative intervention.”

The Wall Street Journal recently had two major pieces on the reporting system, as did National Review, all of which described the reporting system as Orwellian and akin to East German tactics.