Chancellor Andrew D. Martin has introduced a new WashU initiative aimed at enhancing academic freedom, viewpoint variety, and civic education. The Ordered Liberty Project will hire endowed faculty from various fields and bolster current programs to cultivate an intellectual environment where vigorous discourse enriches both research and student development.

“The Ordered Liberty Project is a comprehensive university endeavor rooted in a straightforward yet profound principle: that a flourishing democracy relies on the unrestricted interchange of ideas and that higher education institutions must act as proactive guardians of that dialogue. We do not bear this responsibility alone, but we are distinctly positioned to pioneer,” Martin remarked during his recorded announcement on Sept. 4 at the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy speaker series.

Andrew Reeves, a professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, director of the Weidenbaum Center, and a senior consultant to the chancellor; along with Stefanie Lindquist, the Nickerson Dean and professor at WashU Law, are jointly overseeing the search for three new faculty members specializing in classical liberalism—a political ideology emphasizing personal freedom, limited governance, and free markets.

Peter Boumgarden, the Koch Professor of Practice in Family Enterprise and director of the Koch Family Center; Betsy Sinclair, the Thomas F. Eagleton University Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science in Arts & Sciences; and Abram Van Engen, the Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities in Arts & Sciences and director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, are also part of the Ordered Liberty advisory committee. Reeves anticipates that the new faculty will commence their roles at WashU in the 2026-27 academic year.

“The objective is not to convince students that one side holds all the answers, but to provide them substantial exposure to differing viewpoints,” Reeves stated. “As John Stuart Mill reminded us, ‘He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.’ We develop as scholars when our perspectives are challenged by the strongest opposing views, and we prepare our students to be leaders when they learn to engage thoughtfully with perspectives that differ from their own. That is the essence of a university.”

Cliff and Laurel Asness, who were members of the Parents Council, have committed $3 million to establish one of the esteemed professorships.

The Ordered Liberty Project, an initiative from the Office of the Chancellor, will integrate existing programs that advocate for free speech and civic education, including “Dialogue Across Difference” and the Bauer Leaders Academy in Student Affairs; the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics and the Frick Initiative in the Office of the Provost; the Civil Society Initiative and the Weidenbaum Center in Arts & Sciences, alongside a variety of courses and programs across the schools. Ultimately, Reeves envisions that the Ordered Liberty Project will foster a stronger community among scholars and students, supporting new events and programming while encouraging opportunities for deeper engagement across disciplines.

Martin remarked that the term “ordered liberty” encapsulates the promise of higher education. This phrase is attributed to George Washington and is central to the works of Edmund Burke, as well as frequently cited by the Supreme Court.

“By ordered liberty, we refer to something both traditional and profoundly significant: that individual freedom is most meaningful—and most lasting—when accompanied by the habits, institutions, and norms that provide it structure and purpose,” Martin explained. “It is liberty not as unrestrained freedom, but as a disciplined liberty shaped by mutual obligations, law, and moral restraint. The freedom to express and to listen. To dissent and to reason. To pursue our individual good, but always within a communal civic space. In this way, ordered liberty is not a deviation from what we currently practice at WashU. It serves as a descriptor for it.”

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