Harvard’s leader admitted the university allowing professors to express their personal views in the classroom was a bad idea that has “chilled free speech and debate on campus.”

Harvard University President Alan Garber made his remarks during an episode of the Identity/Crisis Podcast, the Harvard Crimson reported Saturday.

According to the article, Garber argued that “faculty activism had chilled free speech and debate on campus.”

He stated, “And we had a rule that the faculty could support different, on their own time basically, different political views, but in their teaching, they had to be completely objective. That’s what had shifted, and that’s where I think we went wrong.”

Garber continued:

Because think about it. If a professor in a classroom says, “This is what I believe about this issue,” how many students, some of you probably would be prepared to deal with this, but most people wouldn’t, but how many students would actually be willing to go toe to toe against a professor who’s expressed a firm view about a controversial issue?

So some of that happened, and I’m pleased to say that I think there’s real movement to restore balance in teaching.

The Crimson said Garber stepped into his role when students were divided over the deadly terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and there was heavy criticism for how the university handled the response. However, the article said he was working to restore a culture of debate.

During the podcast episode, Garber claimed he has long believed in “unfettered” free speech.

In May, Garber said, “the administration and others have said conservatives are too few on campus and their views are not welcome, insofar as that’s true, that’s a problem we really need to address,” according to Breitbart News.

It is important to note that in announcing his retirement, Harvard Professor James Hankins recently criticized the university for the changes it made after the Chinese coronavirus pandemic and George Floyd riots, citing anti-white and anti-male resolutions, per Breitbart News.

He said his decision to retire came after enduring the university’s coronavirus rules, and the fact it had essentially “taken a knee” in response to the Floyd riots, claiming it had detrimental effects on the school’s graduate admissions process:

“In reviewing graduate student applicants in the fall of 2020, I came across an outstanding prospect who was a perfect fit for our program,” Hankins wrote in his essay, titled ‘Why I’m Leaving Harvard,’ published in Compact Magazine on Monday.

“In past years, this candidate would have risen immediately to the top of the applicant pool,” the professor continued. “In 2021, however, I was told informally by a member of the admissions committee that ‘that’ (meaning admitting a white male) was ‘not happening this year.’”

Hankins also said changes at the university pointed to why young people are in a “state of moral and intellectual disorientation.”