Bridgewater State University: Proposed Changes to Institutional Review Board and Faculty Evaluation Policies
Cases
Bridgewater State University
Case Overview
In February 2021, a Bridgewater State University student tweeted a screenshot of a hypothetical question from a research survey that negatively portrayed Black Lives Matter. The purpose of the survey was to examine how the language used to frame an issue affects perceptions and decision-making. The screenshot sparked an outcry, and in response, BSU鈥檚 Racial Justice Task Force proposed various changes to faculty evaluation criteria and to the university鈥檚 Institutional Review Board to incorporate 鈥渁nti-racist evaluative tools鈥 into the board鈥檚 research-approval process. FIREwrote to BSU on July 16 and August 25, calling on the university to reject or modify the proposals, which would violate academic freedom by subjecting research and teaching to ideological constraints. BSU did not respond to 果冻传媒app官方鈥檚 letters, but as of August 2022, the university had not adopted any of the challenged task force recommendations.