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, “Trump 2.0: A Stress Test for the First Amendment” with guest speaker Timothy Zick from William & Mary Law School.
▶️ buff.ly/E1qURnN
Tune into the latest episode, “Trump 2.0: A Stress Test for the First Amendment” with guest speaker Timothy Zick from William & Mary Law School.
▶️ buff.ly/E1qURnN
University of California President James B. Milliken writes about how science funding and immigration fuel America’s innovation - and how they’re now at risk. Read the op-ed. ⤵️
Contributor: Science funding and immigration fuel America's innovation. They're at risk
The symbiotic relationship between the federal government and our universities — one that has delivered so much for America, its people and its economy — is now at risk.
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November 10, 2025 at 4:02 PM
University of California President James B. Milliken writes about how science funding and immigration fuel America’s innovation - and how they’re now at risk. Read the op-ed. ⤵️
Are current interpretations of the First Amendment sufficient to safeguard free expression in the digital age? Watch two prominent scholars debate the issue in this Cato Free Speech Debate:
Cato Free Speech Debate
Are current interpretations of the First Amendment sufficient to safeguard free expression in the digital age? To mark Free Speech Week, we are hosting two prominent scholars to debate this issue on October...
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November 7, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Are current interpretations of the First Amendment sufficient to safeguard free expression in the digital age? Watch two prominent scholars debate the issue in this Cato Free Speech Debate:
🚨1 week away!
📢 Register for “The Erosion of Academic Freedom in the US - And What To Do About It?” on November 13 at 12:30 pm PST with Steve Brint and Tom Ginsburg:
📢 Register for “The Erosion of Academic Freedom in the US - And What To Do About It?” on November 13 at 12:30 pm PST with Steve Brint and Tom Ginsburg:
The Erosion of Academic Freedom in the US
Join HxA at UC Riverside for a discussion between Steve Brint and Tom Ginsburg on the erosion of academic freedom in the United States and what to do about it.
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November 6, 2025 at 8:02 PM
🚨1 week away!
📢 Register for “The Erosion of Academic Freedom in the US - And What To Do About It?” on November 13 at 12:30 pm PST with Steve Brint and Tom Ginsburg:
📢 Register for “The Erosion of Academic Freedom in the US - And What To Do About It?” on November 13 at 12:30 pm PST with Steve Brint and Tom Ginsburg:
The University of Virginia has reached a federal deal with the Trump administration. 🔗
U. of Virginia Will Adopt Trump’s Interpretation of DEI in Federal Deal
The university has pledged to follow government guidance arguing that a wide range of diversity-related efforts and programs are illegal discrimination.
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November 6, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The University of Virginia has reached a federal deal with the Trump administration. 🔗
Three nonprofit legal organizations stay busy amid the Trump administration’s assault on higher ed and DEI.
Amid Trump’s Assault on Free Speech, Advocates Stay Busy
Three nonprofit legal organizations say their caseload has ramped up significantly since Trump took office. But so has public support for their work.
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November 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Three nonprofit legal organizations stay busy amid the Trump administration’s assault on higher ed and DEI.
📣Tune in today at 10am PT/ 1pm ET for “(No) Shame in Speaking: Creating Space for Courageous Conversation.” Register now! buff.ly/1s7LXla
November 4, 2025 at 4:31 PM
📣Tune in today at 10am PT/ 1pm ET for “(No) Shame in Speaking: Creating Space for Courageous Conversation.” Register now! buff.ly/1s7LXla
Read how the Trump administration’s compact would violate academic freedom and freedom of expression in this op-ed: 👇
How the Compact Curtails Academic Freedom (opinion)
The Trump administration’s proposed compact with colleges would violate academic freedom and freedom of expression in three broad areas.
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November 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Read how the Trump administration’s compact would violate academic freedom and freedom of expression in this op-ed: 👇
International students are drawn to American values of academic freedom and open discourse but campus censorship puts this at risk. 🔗
Campus Censorship Puts American Soft Power at Risk
International students are drawn to America’s academic freedom and open discourse. But faculty firings and topic restrictions on campus are undermining the very freedoms that attract them—putting…
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November 3, 2025 at 4:03 PM
International students are drawn to American values of academic freedom and open discourse but campus censorship puts this at risk. 🔗
Responses from colleges in regards to Trump’s compact suggest a desire among higher ed leaders to enter into dialogue with the White House. ⬇️
Many Colleges Have Turned Down Trump’s Compact. Now Some Are Willing to Talk.
The openness to talking to the White House points to the continued division in the sector about how best to interact with the Trump administration.
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October 30, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Responses from colleges in regards to Trump’s compact suggest a desire among higher ed leaders to enter into dialogue with the White House. ⬇️
Texas governor has appointed a regent from Texas Southern University to serve as the state’s first higher ed ombudsman. 🔗
Texas Governor Appoints Ombudsman Who Will Oversee Higher Ed
Texas governor Greg Abbott picked a regent from Texas Southern University to serve as the state’s first higher ed ombudsman, who will ensure state universities adhere to recent laws that restricted…
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October 30, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Texas governor has appointed a regent from Texas Southern University to serve as the state’s first higher ed ombudsman. 🔗
When protecting free speech becomes a regulatory mandate, does true academic freedom still exist?
Explore the debate👇
Explore the debate👇
The assault on academic freedom
Is the universities regulator protecting free expression, or are some beliefs more protected than others?
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October 29, 2025 at 7:05 PM
When protecting free speech becomes a regulatory mandate, does true academic freedom still exist?
Explore the debate👇
Explore the debate👇
Former fellow Neal Hutchens discusses institutional and faculty autonomy.
Read more in his op-ed in Inside Higher Ed:
Read more in his op-ed in Inside Higher Ed:
A Great Divergence Across States on Autonomy (opinion)
As some states move to regulate public colleges more like K–12 schools, we may be witnessing the start of an epic natural experiment in governance, Neal H. Hutchens writes.
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October 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Former fellow Neal Hutchens discusses institutional and faculty autonomy.
Read more in his op-ed in Inside Higher Ed:
Read more in his op-ed in Inside Higher Ed:
A Texas district court judge ordered the University of Texas system to hold off on enforcing new limits on student expression. 🔗
Judge Halts UT’s Comprehensive Ban on Student Speech
A Texas district court judge on Tuesday ordered the University of Texas system to hold off on enforcing new, sweeping limits on student expression that would prohibit any “expressive activity”…
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October 28, 2025 at 7:04 PM
A Texas district court judge ordered the University of Texas system to hold off on enforcing new limits on student expression. 🔗
Explore this brief legal analysis of the Department of Education’s proposed Compact - what it means for free speech, academic freedom and institutional funding. 👇
A Brief Legal Analysis of the Department of Education’s Proposed Compact for Higher Education
Blog
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October 28, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Explore this brief legal analysis of the Department of Education’s proposed Compact - what it means for free speech, academic freedom and institutional funding. 👇
“These principles must be defended even when doing so is inconvenient or costly.”
Read this op-ed on defending civil dialogue and liberal education in The New York Times.
Read this op-ed on defending civil dialogue and liberal education in The New York Times.
Opinion | I Resigned as Manhattan’s U.S. Attorney. Law Schools Are Missing the Point of My Story.
A principle is hollow if it’s not defended under pressure.
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October 27, 2025 at 7:03 PM
“These principles must be defended even when doing so is inconvenient or costly.”
Read this op-ed on defending civil dialogue and liberal education in The New York Times.
Read this op-ed on defending civil dialogue and liberal education in The New York Times.
Former fellow Neal Hutchens discusses the First Amendment and what it doesn’t protect when it comes to professors and politics. 🔗
What the First Amendment doesn’t protect when it comes to professors speaking out on politics
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
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October 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Former fellow Neal Hutchens discusses the First Amendment and what it doesn’t protect when it comes to professors and politics. 🔗
“The university has an obligation not to amplify all voices equally, but to cultivate discernment.”
Explore this op-ed on how universities can uphold their role as curators of knowledge. 👇
Explore this op-ed on how universities can uphold their role as curators of knowledge. 👇
Universities Are Curators of Knowledge, Not Chaos (opinion)
Universities cannot—and should not—platform every perspective, Gerardo Martí writes.
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October 23, 2025 at 3:06 PM
“The university has an obligation not to amplify all voices equally, but to cultivate discernment.”
Explore this op-ed on how universities can uphold their role as curators of knowledge. 👇
Explore this op-ed on how universities can uphold their role as curators of knowledge. 👇
📢 Tune in today at 10am PT/ 1pm ET for “Beyond Red and Blue: Fostering Friendships in a Polarized Campus Climate.” Register now! buff.ly/pUh8oMY
October 22, 2025 at 3:31 PM
📢 Tune in today at 10am PT/ 1pm ET for “Beyond Red and Blue: Fostering Friendships in a Polarized Campus Climate.” Register now! buff.ly/pUh8oMY
Viewpoint diversity could soon be one-sided if a competitive advantage is given for federal funding to politically aligned colleges.
Read more in this op-ed in Inside Higher Ed.
Read more in this op-ed in Inside Higher Ed.
Viewpoint Diversity Could Soon Be One-Sided
Giving a competitive advantage for federal funding to politically aligned colleges is not the way to improve intellectual diversity on campus.
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October 22, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Viewpoint diversity could soon be one-sided if a competitive advantage is given for federal funding to politically aligned colleges.
Read more in this op-ed in Inside Higher Ed.
Read more in this op-ed in Inside Higher Ed.
Committee for the First Amendment, a free-expression group originally formed by Hollywood stars, is revived by Jane Fonda and hundreds of members of the entertainment industry.
Jane Fonda Revives Her Father’s McCarthy-Era Free Speech Group
The actress joined Spike Lee, Billie Eilish, Pedro Pascal and others in reviving the Committee for the First Amendment, a group that her father, Henry Fonda, was a member of in the 1940s.
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October 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Committee for the First Amendment, a free-expression group originally formed by Hollywood stars, is revived by Jane Fonda and hundreds of members of the entertainment industry.
Don’t miss our final Fellows in the Field workshop with Penelope Lusk on Tuesday, November 4 at 10am PT!
🚨Register today:
buff.ly/yuB3AUY
🚨Register today:
buff.ly/yuB3AUY
October 20, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Don’t miss our final Fellows in the Field workshop with Penelope Lusk on Tuesday, November 4 at 10am PT!
🚨Register today:
buff.ly/yuB3AUY
🚨Register today:
buff.ly/yuB3AUY
The Department of Education announced $153 million in grants for American history and civics seminars.
Explore how the recipients plan to use the money. 🔗
Explore how the recipients plan to use the money. 🔗
Campus Civics Centers Are Getting Millions From Trump. Here’s What They’ll Use It For.
Dozens of universities will receive money to boost civics education in commemoration of the United States’ 250th birthday.
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October 20, 2025 at 3:23 PM
The Department of Education announced $153 million in grants for American history and civics seminars.
Explore how the recipients plan to use the money. 🔗
Explore how the recipients plan to use the money. 🔗
The Trump administration’s Compact contains demands that are a direct attack on university autonomy and academic freedom.
Read more in this op-ed:
Read more in this op-ed:
Opinion | When Viewpoint Diversity Means Conformity
Trump’s compact isn’t just coercive. It’s incoherent.
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October 17, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The Trump administration’s Compact contains demands that are a direct attack on university autonomy and academic freedom.
Read more in this op-ed:
Read more in this op-ed:
Dive into National Advisory Board Member Eugene Volokh’s discussion on the First Amendment problems posed by the Compact.👇
The Proposed "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" and the First Amendment
[1.] There's a lot going on in the Trump Administration's proposed "Compact," and there's a lot that we might want…
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October 16, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Dive into National Advisory Board Member Eugene Volokh’s discussion on the First Amendment problems posed by the Compact.👇
The mission of universities and colleges is to increase knowledge of the world and educate the young.
Dive into this op-ed on how the Compact’s demands threaten academic freedom and free speech.
Dive into this op-ed on how the Compact’s demands threaten academic freedom and free speech.
A Compact for Control (opinion)
No self-respecting institution of higher education should accept the Trump administration’s unconstitutional terms, Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg write.
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October 15, 2025 at 7:02 PM
The mission of universities and colleges is to increase knowledge of the world and educate the young.
Dive into this op-ed on how the Compact’s demands threaten academic freedom and free speech.
Dive into this op-ed on how the Compact’s demands threaten academic freedom and free speech.