UW Receives National Group’s Highest Rating for Free Expression

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has given the University of Wyoming a higher rating for free expression than all universities the organization has evaluated to date, including major universities in Florida, Texas and Virginia.

In 2022, ACTA launched its effort to encourage universities to commit to the group's Gold Standard, a comprehensive 20-point set of actions that schools can take to protect free speech and intellectual diversity. ACTA has been evaluating universities on academic standards, governance and financial transparency, with an aim to ensure that students are getting a meaningful education for their tuition dollars, since 1995.

"I couldn't be prouder of our students, staff and faculty for leading the way in creating a campus climate in which free and open inquiry prevails over ideological conformity -- and dialogue is valued over diatribe," says UW President Ed Seidel, who has made free expression a strategic priority for UW.

Since adopting its Statement of Principles on Freedom of Expression, Intellectual Freedom and Constructive Dialogue, UW has steadily improved policies, procedures and programming to bolster an already robust culture of curiosity, confident pluralism and open inquiry.

"We'll continue to improve, of course, but UW is already so far ahead of other campuses that I regularly get inquiries from other universities and from higher ed reform organizations asking how we do it," says Martha McCaughey, who directs the UW initiative. "This recognition from ACTA affirms our work and underscores what an exceptional institution UW is."

In June, academic professionals from across the Mountain West will come to Laramie for a conference on building trustworthy universities, which UW will host in partnership with the Heterodox Academy and the University of Chicago's Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression. Speakers will include John Tomasi, president of the Heterodox Academy, and Steven Pittz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.