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
READ AND DOWNLOAD
Learn More – Fellows in the Field
The Center’s Fellows are critical to advancing the important work of helping educational institutions foster environments that protect free expression, encourage activism and promote diversity and inclusion. At the conclusion of the annual Fellows Program, the Center is proud to host a series of digital workshops, highlighting the Fellows’ research and findings through interactive Fellows in the Field sessions. This webinar was held on September 25, 2025.
