Category Archives: Freedom of speech and expression

Governor Glenn Youngkin at the higher-ed summit at the University of Virginia. Photo credit: The Daily Progress

by James A. Bacon

Governor Glenn Youngkin outlined yesterday his vision for colleges and universities in Virginia as bastions of free speech and intellectual diversity where people come together to devise solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

“How do we ask serious questions and foster informed debate so we can get to answers?” he asked in a pragmatic defense of free speech in a keynote speech of a statewide higher-ed conclave held at the University of Virginia. The answer was implicit in the title of the event: the Higher Education Summit on Free Speech and Intellectual Diversity.

The summit was attended by representatives, including many presidents, of every public university in Virginia and more than half of the state’s private higher-ed institutions. The end goal of the event, said Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera in introductory remarks, was for every institution to create an “action plan” to advance the goals of free speech and intellectual diversity.

Youngkin began laying the groundwork a year ago when he addressed the Council of Presidents and pushed them toward the same goals. The Council, comprised of Virginia college and university presidents, adopted a statement endorsing free speech and intellectual diversity in the abstract. But as discussions at Wednesday’s summit made clear, there is considerable gray area in applying free speech principles in the real world. The next step is to move beyond the expression of abstract principles to putting those principles into action. Continue reading →

Mary Kate Cary. Photo credit: The Miller Center

Here follows the second part of a speech delivered by Professor Mary Kate Cary to the Colonnade Club Oct. 12. Part I recounted the state of free speech at the University of Virginia. In Part II she describes what can be done to improve it. The transcript, originally published at Think Again, is republished with permission. — JAB

We’re seeing some progress lately, and we need to keep the momentum going. While there are other organizations on Grounds I cannot speak for, here are some of the organizations and initiatives I know of:

UVA’s Committee on Free Expression and Free Inquiry, on which I was honored to serve, produced the statement that was unanimously endorsed by Board of Visitors after classes let out in summer of 2021. As a result, many students don’t know about it. That’s why I hand it out with my syllabus every semester. I expect my students to live up to what it says, and we discuss it the first day of class. Whether you are a member of faculty or staff, a student, a parent, a friend, or a community member, you can endorse the statement at Hoosforfreespeech.com. You can even do it anonymously. Continue reading →

Mary Kate Cary. Photo credit: The Miller Center

Mary Kate Cary, a former presidential speech writer, teaches politics at the University of Virginia and is director of Think Again, a program promoting free speech and viewpoint diversity. Addressing the Colonnade Club Oct. 12, she discussed the state of free speech at UVA and what can be done to improve it. The Jefferson Council is pleased to republish a transcript of that speech, originally published at Think Again. We have divided it into two parts, the first of which appears here. — JAB

I’m different from other faculty here at the University of Virginia: I’m an out-of-the-closet conservative who has parachuted into academia. A former White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush, I started teaching as an adjunct professor here in 2019. In my Political Speechwriting class, my students are mostly fourth-years interested in learning persuasion and rhetoric. The class is an elective, so they self-select me … and since the waitlist is long, I select best ones from among those who have applied. I realize that’s unusual.

And I tell my students something unusual: that they will not be graded on their political views, only on their ability to deliver a well-structured, factually accurate, persuasive speech whether I agree with them or not. That shouldn’t be unusual, but it is.

I know that because the students tell me it’s unusual. Many of them have told me privately that in most of their classes — especially humanities classes — they know what they need to say to get an A. While I’m a conservative, I can tell you that some of my highest performing students have political views very different from mine. I always try to make sure I’m grading on persuasive ability, not political views. Continue reading →