July 23, 2021 Jennifer Freyd sued the University of Oregon in 2017, alleging that she had been paid less than her male colleagues in the psychology department. Last week the two parties announced an agreement under which Oregon will pay the now-retired psychology professor $350,000 in damages, thereby avoiding a jury trial. In addition, the university will donate $100,000 to the Center for Institutional Courage, an organization Freyd founded last year that’s dedicated to “rigorous scientific research, wide-reaching education, and data-driven action.” As Freyd sees it, institutions tend to be frightened by internal criticism and resistant to change. That sounds impressive enough, but what exactly — you might ask — is institutional courage? Freyd gets that question a lot. In fact, when she was naming the center, a colleague suggested ditching “courage” in favor of “integrity,” but that didn’t fully capture her idea. As Freyd sees it, institutions, whether they’re colleges or law firms or film studios, tend to be frightened by internal criticism and resistant to change. They’re often cowardly, in other words. “Somehow these systems, without individuals necessarily realizing it, develop these ways to preserve the status quo,” she says. “And I know this has something to do with power because, when you’re trying to change the system, you’re asking for some shift in power.”