Identity of Speakers
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Faculty in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University
Faculty/Staff
Other
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Not Clear -
Incident Responses:
University administration changed university policy as a consequence
Other
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Incident Status:
No litigation
- Did not involve Speech Codes
Summary
In late August 2025, faculty in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University received an email instructing them that if they were contacted by media about “overarching issues confronting the University,” they should forward the requests to the school’s public relations staff rather than respond directly. The guidance was described by the institution as a pragmatic approach to managing external scrutiny while balancing free expression and civil liberties.
This directive came against a backdrop of serious federal scrutiny. On July 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched investigations into allegations that Duke had engaged in race based preferences in student admissions, scholarships, hiring, and law journal membership selection. At the same time, roughly US$108 million in federal research funding tied to Duke was frozen.
The Duke Chronicle noted that because Duke is a private institution, it is partially exempt from First Amendment constraints that apply to public universities and therefore has more discretion in shaping how faculty communicate with external audiences. The reporting highlighted concerns among faculty that guidance encouraging silence on broader institutional matters could discourage open discussion and limit transparency, especially on controversial or sensitive issues. By late November 2025, the unfolding situation was described as reflecting a shift toward more centralized control over how faculty interact with the press.
