Members of our campus community may have questions about state legislation that defines what it terms divisive concepts and prohibits their use in mandatory training, among other things.

Information about legislation

The UT System provides information that summarizes the legislative process, key components of the legislation, and university actions related to the legislation.

View information from the UT System about the divisive concepts law.

Additional resources

• Campus Free Speech Protection Act
• Board of Trustees Policy Affirming Principles of Free Speech for Students and Faculty (BT0010)

Mandatory training guidance

Because the legislation prohibits mandatory trainings around the list of divisive concepts as it defines them, university mandatory training was reviewed for compliance. The institution developed guidance on mandatory training moving forward.

Review further guidance on mandatory training.

Legal Protection for Employees

The legislation does not create the basis for any new legal claims against university employees. It recognizes existing legal rights that a student or employee may have, such as the right to bring a claim if they believe their First Amendment rights have been violated.

Generally, when individuals are sued as university employees for acts or omissions within the scope of employment, the Office of the General Counsel represents the individual and any judgment or settlement is paid out of university funds or other state funds. However, employees may have personal liability if they have acted willfully, maliciously, or criminally, or if their acts or omissions were done for personal gain. Although the Tennessee attorney general makes the decision on whether university employees may be represented, the Office of the General Counsel is usually granted authority to represent an employee. Campus leadership will request that the Office of the General Counsel take all reasonable steps to seek this authority in the event an employee is sued in their official capacity with regard to this legislation.

More information is available at counsel.tennessee.edu/liability.

Support

Contact

• Faculty and staff do important work, including work that addresses challenging topics, and we are here to support you in that work. If you have questions or needs, contact provost@utk.edu and a member of the Provost’s Office will follow up and help connect you to resources.
• UT System Audit and Compliance includes contacts to report concerns on divisive concepts and on additional topics.

Syllabus statement resource

As noted, the state legislation that defines what it terms divisive concepts recognizes academic freedom and First Amendment rights, particularly freedom of speech. In addition, legislators have stated numerous times on the record that the intent of the legislation is not to impact the teaching, debate, or discussion of any topic. As an additional resource for faculty who would like language on their syllabus that addresses civil academic discourse, the following statement is recommended.

Civil Discourse

A true university education is one in which students hear, study, and discuss ideas that challenge their thinking and encourage them to consider points of view different from their own. Students should expect to hear ideas that make them uncomfortable, should be able to explain and master concepts they disagree with, and should feel free to take opposing views as part of civil academic discourse.  We remind all members of the campus community that the Campus Free Speech Protection Act—signed into state law in 2017—applies to everyone. The act endorses the fundamental responsibility of the university by defining what we are not to do: “It is not the proper role of an institution to attempt to shield individuals from free speech, including ideas and opinions they find offensive, unwise, immoral, indecent, disagreeable, conservative, liberal, traditional, radical, or wrong-headed.” These principles are recognized in the Board of Trustees Policy Affirming Principles of Free Speech for Students and Faculty (BT0010).