What are NDAs?
Non-disclosure agreements are contracts that were originally created to protect trade secrets.
When misused for purposes other than their original and appropriate intent, NDAs become secret settlement contracts used to buy the silence of a victim or whistleblower. At some academic institutions, NDAs are buried in separation or retirement agreements, which allows the university to frame their use of NDAs as standard practice.
All of this means that institutions buy silence to maintain their reputation and silence critique. The practice stifles civil discourse for everyone, and allows wrongdoing to continue, unchecked and hidden. The person who signs an NDA surrenders their right to pursue legitimate legal claims against the institution, and is severely limited in their ability to discuss their own lived experiences.
The problem with NDAs
NDAs have become the default solution for organizations, corporations and public bodies to settle cases of sexual misconduct, harassment, bullying, racism, pregnancy discrimination and other human rights violations. NDAs in higher education allow institutions to sweep misconduct "under the rug" and leave individuals trapped in silence.
The research is clear: when they are misused, NDAs damage the lives of those who sign them. But the damage doesn’t stop with those who sign. NDAs erode trust in institutions, creating cultures of institutional silence and fear of speaking up; and community members, including faculty, remain unaware that they, too, have entered a tacit agreement to self-silence.
“NDAs create a perfect bubble wrap for organizations and corporations covering up misconduct and inappropriate behaviors that might otherwise harm their reputation. Part of this bubble wrap is that since these agreements are ‘secret’, and talking about an NDA means breaching it, how then to prove that this is happening, its extent and its consequences?”
Julie Macfarlane and Zelda Perkins; LegalFutures, September 2023
“If we want to see an end to sexual harassment on campus of, and by, students and staff, we cannot continue to accept the use of NDAs as a means to cover this up.”
Heather Savigny, “What Does #MeToo Tell us About NDAs (and Why I Wouldn’t Sign One)” Political Studies Association PSA Blog
Who are we?
NDAFreeCampus is a new campaign and the first of its kind in the United States. Together with our growing team of advisors, allies, and partners, we advocate to end the misuse of non-disclosure agreements in US-based colleges and universities, and to raise public awareness around the damage to individuals and institutional integrity when NDAs are used to silence survivors of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, workplace harassment, and other forms of bullying.
NDAFreeCampus was established in 2024 by Robert Leland, PhD., Molly Shanahan, PhD., and Kate Mattingly, PhD.
Motivated by personal experiences and a desire to address the misuse of NDAs in higher education; and inspired by the groundbreaking campaign Can’t Buy My Silence launched in the UK and Canada by Julie Macfarlane and Zelda Perkins, Leland, Shanahan, and Mattingly teamed up to address this issue on US terrain.
“NDAs are a tool for universities to suppress information that the public would find shocking in order to protect the reputation of the university and of the university’s management. Through NDAs, universities prevent the staff and students of that university, as well as prospective staff and students, from understanding the full extent of wrongdoing and corruption within the university: it is a tool for information control.”
Powerful Facts About NDAs:
95% of those who sign NDAs report mental health consequences;
Almost 6 times as many women report signing NDAs compared to men, likely explained by the preponderance of sexual harassment complaints brought by women which end in NDAs;
Very worryingly, 32% of Speak Out (Can’t Buy My Silence's data partner) respondents in the UK report that they did not file a formal complaint, because they anticipated being asked to sign an NDA, and did not want to. This is chilling.
The "University Pledge"
“(W)e [our president and board of trustees/board of regents] commit to not using Non-Disclosure Agreements to silence people who come forward to raise complaints of sexual harassment, abuse or misconduct, discrimination, or other forms of harassment and bullying.”
Encourage your institution to adopt the University Pledge.
Why a "University Pledge"?
The values of transparency, accountability, and safety matter to people in all spaces, and perhaps especially in spaces where learning, research, and teaching are paramount. The misuse of NDAs interferes with these values, yet many people are unaware of this misuse because the agreements are rendered invisible by their very existence. The "University Pledge" offers a way for universities to make their values explicit; to celebrate and honor them; to express them to the next generation of leaders; and for the institution to hold itself accountable to explore other means of resolution when the topic arises.
The “University Pledge" is adapted from the voluntary pledge initiated by Can’t Buy My Silence that has been signed by 97 universities in England and Northern Ireland, including campuses of Oxford and Cambridge, and recently two universities in Canada.