The LSU Faculty Senate on Thursday elected new members to executive committee and voted to protect academic freedom of speech. 

Multiple faculty ran for a term on the 2024-2025 executive council, with political science professor Daniel Tirone winning the presidency, succeeding music professor Inessa Bazayev. Physics professor Parampreet Singh was elected vice president. 

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Member-at-large candidate veterinary medicine associate professor Michelle Osborn stepped into the role of secretary over the original nominee, renewable natural resources associate professor Kevin Ringleman, due to his announced departure from LSU. 

Assistant professor Kyla Kazuschyk and chemistry professor Kenneth Lopata were elected as members-at-large, rounding out the 2024-2025 executive council roster.

The Senate then moved to consider Resolution 24-01, which was brought by mathematics professor Scott Baldridge in hopes of “supporting academic freedom and inquiry through institutional neutrality,” according to the bill.

“Institutional neutrality is the idea that upper level administration of the university  should only speak out on social and political issues that pertain to the academic mission of the university,” Baldridge said, “or speak to defend the university’s culture of academic freedom and inquiry.” 

Baldridge wants to include this resolution in LSU policy 15: “Academic freedom protects freedom of speech, thought, and expression within the university setting to promote learning and knowledge.” 

In his presentation, Baldridge expressed how he wants to protect the freedom of students and staff to speak on matters that they believe are important, even if the viewpoints could be deemed controversial. 

This comes as LSU-Shreveport is attempting to fire Brian Salvatore, a tenured chemistry professor, over a series of comments and social media posts critical of the LSUS Faculty Senate and administration.

“Academic freedom comprises three elements: freedom of inquiry and research; freedom of teaching within the university or college; and freedom of extra-mural utterance and action,” Baldridge said. 

The meeting adjourned after a majority voted to pass the bill.

The next Senate meeting will be in the 2024-2025 academic year.