Purdue Graduate Student Government to host Free Speech forum Dec. 1
November 18, 2015
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Geoffrey Stone |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Graduate Student Government, with support from the Office of the President, on Dec. 1 will host "What is Free Speech?" a discussion forum that will focus on the "Chicago principles" on academic freedom and freedom of expression.
The event, which will be 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Matthews Hall, Room 210, is free and open to the public. Andrew Zeller, president of Purdue Graduate Student Government will moderate the discussion and Purdue President Mitch Daniels will give opening remarks and welcome guest speakers to the event.
This is the first offering in the new PGSG Lectureship Series, which aims to bring diverse and noteworthy thinkers to Purdue several times a year for the benefit of both graduate students and the broader community.
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Azhar Majeed |
Speakers will be Geoffrey Stone, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, and Azhar Majeed, director of the Individual Rights Education Program for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Members of the audience will have an opportunity to ask the speakers questions.
In May, Purdue became the first public university to adopt the Chicago principles and also revised its existing free speech policies, earning it FIRE's highest rating. The board of trustees' action followed separate, simultaneous efforts by Daniels and students, including a joint resolution by the undergraduate and graduate student governments advocating for these policy changes. Stone chaired the Committee on Freedom of Expression, which drafted the principles, and Majeed worked with Purdue on the policy changes.
"Academic freedom and freedom of expression are at the core of a university's mission. Without them, an institution can scarcely be called a university," Zeller said. "This forum will give the audience a chance to explore the Chicago principles, to understand how they came about, why they're important, and what they mean for the free speech landscape at Purdue and beyond."
Writer: Abby Eddy, director of marketing for Purdue Convocations, 765-494-5045, aeeddy@purdue.edu
Source: Andrew Zeller, zellera@purdue.edu
