BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - University of California faculty have endorsed a revised statement of academic freedom that had stirred debate over how to stop professors from turning classrooms into soapboxes.

Voting 45-3, members of the Academic Assembly, the legislative branch of the systemwide Academic Senate, approved the new policy.

UC's existing policy, first drafted in 1934, declared the function of the university to be a "dispassionate duty," and advised professors to "stick to the logic of the facts."

The new policy says the university is about fostering a "mature independence of mind" that can only be achieved if students and faculty are free to express the widest range of viewpoints within scholarly and ethical standards.

The old policy gained attention last year after a catalog description for a UC Berkeley course on Palestinian poetry advised conservative thinkers to "seek other sections."

The flap was settled after the description was rewritten and students were assured they had the right to speak out.

However, the affair prompted UC President Richard C. Atkinson to call for an updated academic freedom policy.

The faculty role in this issue is advisory; Atkinson has final say over what the policy will be.