Academic freedom and freedom of inquiry are values to which Linfield University subscribes and which it protects by prescribing boundaries on the extent to which university officials may regulate discourse, speech, and the articulation of conscientiously held beliefs. As long as an opinion is delivered in a civil manner that invites and respects argument to the contrary, academic freedom demands that the university protect its expression. Maintaining academic freedom requires an atmosphere of trust and mutual confidence such that dishonesty, intimidation, harassment, exploitation, and the use or threat of force are incompatible with the preservation of this freedom. Accordingly, substantiated charges of sexual or other kind of discriminatory harassment must be sanctioned both for the reasons articulated in the University’s anti-harassment policy as well as for the protection of academic freedom itself.

Anti-harassment policies are not intended to limit the free exchange of opinions or the vigorous debate over ideas, except when harassment and intimidation preclude the very possibility for maintaining an atmosphere of academic freedom. All members of the university are entitled to use speech to convey disagreement, agreement, inquiry, or commentary in keeping with the principles underlying constitutionally protected free expression. In particular, speech that is related to or uttered in connection with academic matters or the expression of non-anonymous opinions in classrooms, open forums, papers, newspapers, or pamphlets will not constitute discriminatory harassment unless it is so severe or pervasive as to interfere unreasonably with an individual’s work or academic performance or unreasonably create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or academic environment.