In March 2023, ACTA’s second annual Alumni Summit on Free Expression brought together alumni free speech activists and higher education nonprofit leaders from across the country to share knowledge, experiences, and resources related to campus reform efforts. In partnership with the Alumni Free Speech Alliance (AFSA), this special gathering was designed to further motivate and equip alumni as guardians of the values that shaped their own education, including free expression, academic freedom, and viewpoint diversity.
Today’s episode features a panel from the Summit, headlined as A HIGHER ED REFORMATION: CHANGING CAMPUS POLICY AND CULTURE. Along with ACTA’s Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom, Steve McGuire, the discussion featured Lindsey Burke, director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation; Jenna Robinson, president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal and AFSA board member; and Dawn Toguchi, executive director of the Open Discourse Coalition at Bucknell University. The moderator was John Tomasi, president of Heterodox Academy. Together, these experts explored how alumni concerned about campus free speech can influence policy and cultural change within college and university environments.
Download a transcript of the podcast HERE.
Note: Please check any quotations against the audio recording.
America’s confidence in higher education has plummeted. Faculty and administrators need to recognize that an ideological overhaul of their institutions is necessary to regain the public’s trust.
When thinking of college alumni, one generally imagines boosters donning their alma mater’s signature colors and cheering proudly for their team at homecoming games, or a multimillionaire being courted at campus events and donating substantial sums to fund an institution’s new building, sports complex, or...
“This ‘is possibly going to blow up.’” That was the warning of an anonymous faculty member who registered a series of complaints
It is heresy inside the academy to say such a thing, but absent some serious reforms, tenure deserves to go the way of the spinning wheel and the
The public is more skeptical of higher education today than ever before. Recent Gallup data show that only a minority of survey respondents (36%) have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education. Indeed, only 47% of those who graduated from college or university have this level of confidence, down 10 points from only eight years ago. […]
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