2024-2025 Class of Fellows
‘Good Faith Speech’: Exploring Meaning Making and Tensions in Free Speech Practices on Catholic Universities
ABOUT THE RESEARCH
This research examines how Catholic colleges and universities invoke, interpret, and apply institutional mission in shaping campus speech and expression policies, with particular focus on the experiences of administrators responsible for implementing them. Using a phenomenological approach, the study analyzes how student affairs leaders, mission officers, and conduct administrators navigate the complex intersection of legal obligations, theological commitments, and campus culture. The findings identify three distinct models for how mission is conceptualized and employed in practice to aid in institutional self-reflection and better understanding institutional approaches to speech governance in Catholic higher education.
About the Fellows

Susan Haarman & Leslie Watland
Watch this video to learn more about Susan and Leslie's project
Associate Director of the Center for Engaged Learning, Teaching and Scholarship, Loyola University of Chicago; Associate Dean of Students, DePaul University
EXPLORE THE RESOURCES
- Promising Practices in Civic and Voter Empowerment
- Civic and Voter Empowerment Resource Guide
- Civic and Voter Empowerment Recommendations for Faculty and Staff Coordinators
- Civic and Voter Empowerment Recommendations for College Presidents & Senior Leaders
- Civic and Voter Empowerment Recommendations for Secretary of State Officials
- Civic and Voter Empowerment Recommendations for Policymakers
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