Excerpt from the July 1, 2025, DePaul University Faculty Handbook. For the most recent handbook, please visit Academic Affairs: Governance.
6.1 Academic Freedom
DePaul accords academic freedom a prominent position as an integral part of the university’s scholarly and religious heritage. The university attempts to create an environment in which persons engaged in learning and research exercise this freedom and respect it in others as contributing to the God-given dignity of individual persons and enhancing the academic process. University precept and tradition protect this freedom from infringement. Not only the faculty but also students and other members of the university community enjoy this freedom as they participate in the various forms of open inquiry and debate, as for example, classroom presentation and discussion, research and publication, public statements made as a citizen in one’s own name, and other forms of creative expression.
DePaul University is guided by the AAUP 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure (with 1970 Interpretive Comments). However, the university expressly reserves the right to amend, alter, modify, and delete the same with the assent of the Faculty Council.