Wiley: We are a community with many voices

Throughout the country and the world today, people are thinking about all of the questions and consequences that may be generated by armed conflict with Iraq. As evidenced by the activity on campus and in the city of Madison, we are all very much engaged in that reflective process. I know that I have been, both as an individual and in my role as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I would like to share some brief remarks.

I support unambiguously the right of individuals to express their personal and political views on the premises of UW–Madison, as long as the manner of that expression does not impede the rights of others to live, work and study. Open debate, particularly about matters of great societal concern – like war – has long been a hallmark of this campus. This is a place where free expression and differences of opinion matter. The “sifting and winnowing” plaque on the front of Bascom Hall celebrates this tradition, and reminds us of an enduring legacy that we have a common responsibility to protect. I welcome all voices and opinions, and encourage others to do likewise.

I expect that I will be asked, in my role as chancellor, to commit the name of this university to a political stance relative to the possibility of war. I might make such a request myself, if I were engaged in a part of a movement that I cared deeply about, and wanted “my” university to support a course of action that I believed to be right. The inherent difficulty with acting on this impulse, however, is that I have no right to suggest publicly that everyone associated with this university has a single viewpoint. We are a community with many voices, and I will not discourage debate or free expression by any action that would suggest that there is a fundamental inequality in the value of some of those voices as opposed to others.

As has been the case for every chancellor of this university, I have had occasion to express publicly my positions on certain matters important to the operation of the university. Recent examples include the state budget crisis, student alcohol use and affirmative action. I expect that some may ask why, if I can speak to those issues, I choose not to speak to the issue of potential war. Let me be clear on the differences I perceive between these options.

As chancellor, I am responsible under state law for managing all issues affecting the operation of the university. I do not act alone in this capacity, however; my views, and any initiatives that I may seek to pursue, are subject always to the process of shared governance that involves faculty, staff, students and regents in the affairs of the campus. That process ensures the very model of debate and open discussion that has made this university great. That process does not extend to invoking the name of the university in support of individual declarations of opinion – mine or that of anyone else.

Consistent with these principles, I will not declare that UW–Madison has a particular viewpoint regarding the possibility of armed conflict with Iraq. Similarly, I will not accede to any demand that calls for unilateral actions associated with a political agenda. I will, however, do everything necessary to guarantee that all who wish to express their views on these or other issues have the freedom to do so, without fear of penalty or interference.