Penn will delay finalizing its revised Guidelines on Open Expression, Provost John Jackson Jr. announced in a Wednesday email to the University community.
The final draft is now tentatively due on Nov. 18 — roughly two months after the Committee on Open Expression’s original September deadline. The extension follows months of campus debate over the proposed guidelines.
“After the draft guidelines were shared with the community in March, we heard from a wide range of faculty, staff, students, and postdocs,” Jackson wrote on June 17. “Some reactions have been pointedly critical, while others have identified elements that resonate.”
Members of the community could submit feedback until May 29 — an 11-day extension from the original deadline of May 18, granted after concerns that the window for comments was too short.
Many campus groups, including a student coalition formed around the cause, publicly criticized the latest draft, calling it an unnecessary “consolidation of power” among administrators.
Jackson wrote that the feedback involved “important questions about such areas as governance, oversight, academic freedom, and campus safety, as well as about the roles of faculty, students, and staff in implementing and enforcing the guidelines.”
Wednesday’s announcement now marks a second extension of the timeframe prompted by calls for additional time to engage with the draft.
“Rather than presenting a final draft to University Council at the September 9th meeting, as originally planned, we are now targeting the November 18th University Council meeting for that presentation, with a tentative implementation date of January 1, 2027 for the final updated guidelines,” Jackson added. “This is our target, but, if more time is needed, we will take it.”
By late August, Penn will publish a summary of community feedback. A newly revised draft will be circulated in the fall, followed by additional feedback opportunities — including listening sessions moderated by University of Pennsylvania Carey Law professor Eric Feldman.
Prior to the message, Wharton professor and Committee on Open Expression Chair Phil Nichols wrote to The Daily Pennsylvanian that the committee has “a substantial amount of work to do” considering community feedback and aiming “to be as transparent as possible.”
“Our goal is to produce something that responds to that feedback and just as importantly explains how it responds to feedback,” Nichols wrote. “We understand that not everyone will be happy — given the differing positions within our community universal happiness is not possible — but we hope that people will understand that we are treating all feedback and comments and suggestions with respect.”
He added that Jackson and Penn President Larry Jameson “are also committed to a set of guidelines that are produced by Penn as a community.”
Before switching to a temporary set of regulations in 2024 — implemented in response to a year of heightened campus activism — Penn operated under a version of the policies last updated in 1993.
“We are fully committed to the challenge of revising these guidelines,” Jackson wrote. “Questions of open expression are complex and consequential and have been debated for centuries. We do not anticipate unanimity on every point that the guidelines will address.”
Staff reporter Lavanya Mani covers legal affairs and can be reached at mani@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies English. Follow her on X @lavanyamani_.
