BUZZ
Decision draws criticism from school’s AAUP chapter
The University of Chicago is breaking tradition by declining to fly the LGBTQ “pride” flag this June, citing its commitment to institutional neutrality.
Interim Director Ethan Bueno de Mesquita announced the decision in an email to the campus community Monday, clarifying that it “only applies to the flagpole,” according to U-High Midway, the UC Laboratory High School student newspaper.
“To be clear, the full membership of LGBTQ+ people in the Lab community is not a contested issue. It is a core value,” he wrote.
After reviewing the issue in light of the Kalven Report, the school’s longstanding policy on institutional neutrality, and the school’s new policy on viewpoint-neutral teaching, Bueno de Mesquita determined that displaying any flag other than the American or a state flag constitutes institutional speech.
“I think the university saying that an observer who sees something flying from a flagpole and understands that to be a statement of the institution is a reasonable interpretation of how flagpoles operate, and so that doesn’t strike me as an unreasonable rule,” he told the newspaper.
The decision drew criticism from the university’s American Association of University Professors chapter.
“You see the display of even basic symbols expressing the dignity of our students would be an unacceptable political stance and violation of neutrality,” the group wrote on X.
Still, UC’s Center for Identity + Inclusion operates a gender identity-based student life office, which “serves LGBTQ students, questioning students, and allies in the College and graduate and professional schools,” according to its website.
In a post on Instagram, the office wrote, “Happy Pride Month from your friends at LGBTQ Student Life!!”
An analysis by The College Fix found that over half of U.S. colleges and universities that have publicly pledged institutional neutrality on political issues still publicly supported “Pride Month” in June 2025.
The Fix reviewed the social media accounts of 152 American colleges and universities whose leaders committed to practicing “institutional neutrality.” At least 82 posted in some way in support of LGBT “pride” through either their main accounts or related entities, such as libraries or sports teams.
Experts are divided on whether support for “Pride Month” is a violation of neutrality.
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression spokesperson Connor Murnane told The Fix last year that “A simple ‘Happy Pride Month’ message—much like a ‘Happy Fourth of July’ post—doesn’t inherently violate a university’s commitment to neutrality.”
Schools simply can’t endorse specific legislation, he added.
However, TFP Student Action Director John Ritchie told The Fix, “Pride Month is not a neutral issue but rather part of a broader cultural revolution aimed at overturning Christian morality.”
