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48 J.L. & Educ. 1 (2019)

handle is hein.journals/jle48 and id is 1 raw text is: Bias Response on Campus Joseph W. Yockey* Bias Assessment and Response Teams (BARTs) are becoming ubiquitous at universities in the United States. These programs rely on administrative personnel to investigate and intervene in alleged bias incidents on campus. BART proponents maintain that the programs play an important role in promoting safety, diversity, and inclusivity. Critics, on the other hand, worry that the investigatory and regulatory nature of BARTs-together with their often-vague definitions of actionable bias-will silence debate and chill student and faculty expression. This article assesses BARTs in light of these concerns. It finds that while the goals of BARTs are legitimate, most programs suffer from policy missteps that justify fears of speech suppression and skepticism about their utility. In response, the article suggests that universities should reinvent bias response strategy through greater reliance on principles-based and meta-regulatory governance. By doing so, universities can create safe and supportive learning environments while still ensuring that students and faculty remain free to engage in critical, open inquiry. I. INTRODUCTION Imagine four students, each at a different university in the United States. Student A happens to be jogging across campus during winter. She rounds a corner near a residence hall and observes a sculpture made *Professor of Law and Michael and Brenda Sandler Faculty Fellow in Corporate Law, University of Iowa College of Law. I am grateful to the participants at the 2017 Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Faculty Conference for their helpful comments. 1