UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement
@ucfreespeech.bsky.social
The Center explores the intersection of expression, engagement & democratic learning and considers what can be done to restore trust in the value of free speech
https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/
https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/
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🎧 New #SpeechMatters podcast alert!
Tune into the latest episode titled, “The Illusion of University Neutrality” with guest host and former fellow Emerson Sykes and former fellow and guest speaker Brian Soucek.
▶️ buff.ly/NoAQ7t5
Tune into the latest episode titled, “The Illusion of University Neutrality” with guest host and former fellow Emerson Sykes and former fellow and guest speaker Brian Soucek.
▶️ buff.ly/NoAQ7t5
Explore the top First Amendment stories of 2025 ⤵️
First Amendment Stories of 2025: A Year in Review
From Supreme Court First Amendment rulings to the "No Kings" protests, we take a look at some of the biggest First Amendment stories of 2025.
buff.ly
December 23, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Explore the top First Amendment stories of 2025 ⤵️
How do you facilitate deliberate dialogue in the classroom? Dive into expert insights into how to integrate challenging conversations in this article. 📑
Facilitating Deliberative Dialogue in College Classrooms
A panel of experts provide insights into how to integrate challenging conversations into class activities to build students’ interpersonal skills and critical thinking.
buff.ly
December 23, 2025 at 4:02 PM
How do you facilitate deliberate dialogue in the classroom? Dive into expert insights into how to integrate challenging conversations in this article. 📑
The University of North Carolina system will require faculty to post their syllabi publicly with some citing academic freedom concerns.👇
At UNC, Professors Must Soon Post Syllabi Publicly
The UNC system president cited low trust in higher education as justification for the new policy, which echoes rules in Florida and Texas. Faculty are fighting the decision.
buff.ly
December 22, 2025 at 8:01 PM
The University of North Carolina system will require faculty to post their syllabi publicly with some citing academic freedom concerns.👇
The head of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) discusses what free speech really means. Listen in here. 🎧
The Lonely Work of a Free-Speech Defender
The head of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression talks about what free speech really means.
buff.ly
December 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The head of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) discusses what free speech really means. Listen in here. 🎧
Justice Department pressured lawyers to find evidence that the UC system and four of its campuses had illegally tolerated antisemitism. Read more in the Chronicle. 🔗
Trump’s DOJ Pressured Lawyers to ‘Find’ Evidence UCLA Had Illegally Tolerated Antisemitism
How the government ignored due process to gin up its attack on the University of California
buff.ly
December 19, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Justice Department pressured lawyers to find evidence that the UC system and four of its campuses had illegally tolerated antisemitism. Read more in the Chronicle. 🔗
🎧 New #SpeechMatters podcast alert!
Tune into the latest episode titled, “The Illusion of University Neutrality” with guest host and former fellow Emerson Sykes and former fellow and guest speaker Brian Soucek.
▶️ buff.ly/NoAQ7t5
Tune into the latest episode titled, “The Illusion of University Neutrality” with guest host and former fellow Emerson Sykes and former fellow and guest speaker Brian Soucek.
▶️ buff.ly/NoAQ7t5
December 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
🎧 New #SpeechMatters podcast alert!
Tune into the latest episode titled, “The Illusion of University Neutrality” with guest host and former fellow Emerson Sykes and former fellow and guest speaker Brian Soucek.
▶️ buff.ly/NoAQ7t5
Tune into the latest episode titled, “The Illusion of University Neutrality” with guest host and former fellow Emerson Sykes and former fellow and guest speaker Brian Soucek.
▶️ buff.ly/NoAQ7t5
The New York Times sues the Pentagon arguing that the Defense Department’s new policy violated the First Amendment. ⤵️
New York Times Sues Pentagon Over First Amendment Rights
The lawsuit said the Defense Department’s new set of rules for journalists “violates the Constitution’s guarantees of due process, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.”
buff.ly
December 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The New York Times sues the Pentagon arguing that the Defense Department’s new policy violated the First Amendment. ⤵️
The University of Alabama has ended two student magazines prompting concerns that the decision violates the outlets’ First Amendment right to be free of viewpoint-based discrimination. 👇
Alabama Ends Black-, Women-Focused Student Magazines
The university pointed to a July Department of Justice memo that warned against “unlawful proxies” for race or sex. It’s another example of administrators restricting student media.
buff.ly
December 17, 2025 at 4:02 PM
The University of Alabama has ended two student magazines prompting concerns that the decision violates the outlets’ First Amendment right to be free of viewpoint-based discrimination. 👇
Constructive dialogue programs are trending across campuses. Read more about the rise of these new projects. 🔗
‘Constructive Dialogue’ Is All the Rage. What Does It Mean to Teach It?
Elite institutions are investing heavily in speaker series and training sessions to foster productive disagreement. Is this a Trump-era fad, a serious movement, or both?
buff.ly
December 16, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Constructive dialogue programs are trending across campuses. Read more about the rise of these new projects. 🔗
FIRE survey displays how the assassination of Charlie Kirk is reshaping campus speech nationwide. View the survey. 📊
How the assassination of Charlie Kirk is reshaping campus speech nationwide
This survey offers a first look at how students across the country are responding to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
buff.ly
December 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
FIRE survey displays how the assassination of Charlie Kirk is reshaping campus speech nationwide. View the survey. 📊
Former fellow John Wilson discusses the need to preserve academic values and academic freedom. 🔗
Northwestern’s Complicity With the Trump Regime
We need shadow universities to preserve academic values and academic freedom at a time when they are under attack by government officials and campus administrators.
buff.ly
December 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Former fellow John Wilson discusses the need to preserve academic values and academic freedom. 🔗
Associate provost discusses her new book and the escalating attack on academic freedom today. 🔗
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Associate Provost on Coordinated Attack on Academic Freedom
In her book The Right to Learn, Valerie Johnson dives into the years-long erosion of academic freedom in red states and how universities must resist it.
www.insidehighered.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Associate provost discusses her new book and the escalating attack on academic freedom today. 🔗
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Northwestern University has reached an agreement with the Trump administration. Learn more about the settlement here. ⬇️
Northwestern Settles With Trump Administration
Northwestern will pay $75 million and walk back a 2024 deal with student protesters, among other concessions, in order to restore hundreds of millions in research funding.
buff.ly
December 9, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Northwestern University has reached an agreement with the Trump administration. Learn more about the settlement here. ⬇️
FIRE is preparing a federal civil-rights lawsuit following the arrest of a retired police officer for posting a meme. Read more in this op-ed:
Opinion | A Retired Police Officer Posted a Meme. It Earned Him 37 Days in Jail.
The best way to honor Charlie Kirk is not to criminalize speech.
buff.ly
December 8, 2025 at 4:02 PM
FIRE is preparing a federal civil-rights lawsuit following the arrest of a retired police officer for posting a meme. Read more in this op-ed:
Public universities have been slow to respond to records requests related to the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
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Public Universities Don’t Want to Discuss the Compact
Institutions have been slow to respond to records requests related to the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” and UT Austin is fighting to withhold records.
buff.ly
December 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Public universities have been slow to respond to records requests related to the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
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“But intellectual pluralism is a goal worth clinging to, for intrinsic as well as civic reasons. It makes minds more interesting, not just more democratic.”
Read more about the current push for viewpoint diversity in academia in this op-ed. ⤵️
Read more about the current push for viewpoint diversity in academia in this op-ed. ⤵️
Opinion | Viewpoint Diversity Misses the Point
The academy’s latest obsession mistakes political representation for intellectual agility.
buff.ly
December 3, 2025 at 4:03 PM
“But intellectual pluralism is a goal worth clinging to, for intrinsic as well as civic reasons. It makes minds more interesting, not just more democratic.”
Read more about the current push for viewpoint diversity in academia in this op-ed. ⤵️
Read more about the current push for viewpoint diversity in academia in this op-ed. ⤵️
Three university leaders discuss the future of higher education. Read more in The New York Times. 🔗
Opinion | ‘We Lost Our Mission’: Three University Leaders on the Future of Higher Ed
The view from Dartmouth, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wesleyan.
buff.ly
December 2, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Three university leaders discuss the future of higher education. Read more in The New York Times. 🔗
A federal judge ruled that Trump cannot withhold funds or demand a 1.2 billion settlement from UCLA. 👇
‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules
A federal judge ruled Donald Trump cannot demand that UCLA pay a $1.2 billion settlement that would have restricted academic freedoms.
buff.ly
December 1, 2025 at 4:03 PM
A federal judge ruled that Trump cannot withhold funds or demand a 1.2 billion settlement from UCLA. 👇
New policy at Texas A&M University system restricts how faculty can teach about race and gender. Learn more in The Chronicle of Higher Education. ⬇️
Texas A&M System Sharply Restricts How Faculty Can Teach About Race and Gender
A new policy approved Thursday — following a viral video that led to a professor’s firing — prohibits courses from advocating for “race or gender ideology” without prior approval.
t.co
November 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
New policy at Texas A&M University system restricts how faculty can teach about race and gender. Learn more in The Chronicle of Higher Education. ⬇️
National Advisory Board Co-Chair Dean Erwin Chemerinsky urges the courts and the Supreme Court to be the guardrail of our democracy. 🔗
Berkeley Law Dean Urges SCOTUS to Be “Guardrail” for Democracy
Erwin Chemerinsky capped this week’s APLU conference by explaining higher ed’s financial vulnerabilities that the Trump administration is exploiting and arguing that the high court needs to “check”…
buff.ly
November 25, 2025 at 4:04 PM
National Advisory Board Co-Chair Dean Erwin Chemerinsky urges the courts and the Supreme Court to be the guardrail of our democracy. 🔗
The Department of Justice said it will investigate the University of California, Berkeley following a campus event hosted by Turning Point USA. Read more:
Justice Department to Investigate Protests at Turning Point Event at Berkeley
The announcement came a day after protesters confronted attendees of a campus event hosted by Turning Point USA, the conservative group founded by Charlie Kirk.
buff.ly
November 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The Department of Justice said it will investigate the University of California, Berkeley following a campus event hosted by Turning Point USA. Read more:
In Florida, faculty at all public universities must now post syllabi and reading lists online, with some saying the move is designed to chill academic freedom. 🔗
Fla. Board Says Syllabi, Reading Lists Must Be Posted Publicly
Faculty at some Florida public universities argue the new policy is less about transparency for students and more about chilling academic freedom.
buff.ly
November 20, 2025 at 4:04 PM
In Florida, faculty at all public universities must now post syllabi and reading lists online, with some saying the move is designed to chill academic freedom. 🔗
A Federal judge has ruled that the Department of Education violated the First Amendment in partisan out-of-office messages. 👇
Judge Orders ED Remove Partisan Out-of-Office Messages
A federal judge sided with the American Federation of Government Employees in its challenge to the Trump administration sending partisan, automated out-of-office messages from Department of Education…
buff.ly
November 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
A Federal judge has ruled that the Department of Education violated the First Amendment in partisan out-of-office messages. 👇
Former fellow John Wilson writes about a partial victory for freedom of the press at Indiana University. ⬇️
Partial Victory for Freedom of the Press at Indiana U
While we need to celebrate the win, we also need to recognize how incomplete and temporary it was.
buff.ly
November 18, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Former fellow John Wilson writes about a partial victory for freedom of the press at Indiana University. ⬇️
The push and pull over free speech across higher education continues to evolve with enforcement actions drawing accusations of political selectivity. 🔗
Free Speech for Me, Not for Thee: The Campus Double Standard | Insight Into Academia
Universities confront conflicting pressures over open dialogue, free speech on campus.
buff.ly
November 17, 2025 at 4:02 PM
The push and pull over free speech across higher education continues to evolve with enforcement actions drawing accusations of political selectivity. 🔗