Community, Civility, and Free Speech
September 22, 2025
Dear Boston University Community Members,
I hope that your semesters are off to a productive beginning and that you are enjoying seeing new and old colleagues, students, and friends.
As we’ve returned to campus, I’ve been focused on the importance of the Boston University community and the significance of studying, working, and living among our fellow Terriers. I’ve written about being beholden to one another and the privilege of together pursuing goals for ourselves and for the benefit of others.
Being in community doesn’t always mean agreeing with one another. Conversations with individuals that have different backgrounds and perspectives from our own can expand our horizons, lead us to pursue new interests, and catalyze scientific discovery and innovation. Discourse and disagreement are fundamental to learning about oneself and the world, and they are foundational to Boston University as an institution committed to free speech and academic freedom. In fact, it is the broad diversity of ideas and points of view that makes us a leading university and a guiding light in higher education.
I understand that we are living in volatile and challenging times. Acts of political violence and destructive public discourse threaten the open exchange of ideas. Increasingly, people feel silenced, afraid, and unable to share their thoughts. Unfortunately, we are not immune to these realities here at Boston University: I have heard from community members who are concerned about speaking freely or living fully as themselves. These concerns are serious and must be addressed, even if that isn’t easy to do.
Earlier this month, Dean of Students Jason Campbell-Foster shared campus resources related to free speech and academic freedom, civil discourse, and campus safety with our new and returning students. I’d like to highlight that information again today, for our whole community. I encourage you to begin with our website on Community, Civility & Free Speech, where you can find University organizations, policies, and support around these topics.
The website also links to our policy on events and demonstrations, which states that members of the University community must be able to express themselves and that expression is crucial to our educational mission—while also setting forth time, place, and manner guidelines to ensure that expressive activities do not unreasonably interfere with or disrupt University operations. The site provides resources for community members who have experienced instances of bias or harassment, which can be reported directly online through the Equal Opportunity Office. Those who do not want (or are not yet ready) to make a report can seek other confidential campus support through the Office of the Ombuds, Counseling & Psychiatric Services, the University Chaplains, or the Faculty & Staff Assistance Office.
Later this fall, we will launch a comprehensive and varied series of training and teaching resources meant to prevent and inform about many forms of bias, including but not limited to antisemitism and anti-Muslim bigotry. All forms of bigotry and hatred are unacceptable on this campus. Ultimately, we must all commit to treating one another with the dignity, respect, and regard that each of us hopes to receive.
In the coming weeks, we will share the results of the Living Our Values Initiative, in which a steering committee of faculty, staff, and students has asked our community to identify the values that knit us together.
I hope you will explore openness on our campus while you are here. I especially encourage you to visit one of BU’s crown jewels—the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, a hub that hosts a wide array of programs centered around dialogue and hearing diverse points of view.
As Dr. Thurman wrote, “…meaningful and creative shared experiences…between people can be more compelling than all of the faiths, fears, concepts, ideologies, and prejudices that divide; and if these experiences can be multiplied and sustained over a sufficient duration of time, then any barrier that separates one person from another can be undermined and eliminated.”
As we move ahead this semester with our classwork, our research, our activities, and our day-to-day responsibilities, let us aspire to, as Dr. Thurman says, multiply shared experiences toward building a community where we can all feel welcome.
Sincerely,
Melissa Gilliam
President
*9/22/25 This message was sent to students, faculty, and staff.