The 2024 Alumni Summit on Free Expression: Creating Lasting Change

Amid the growing loss of confidence in American higher education, alumni nationwide remain steadfast in holding their alma maters accountable to their core principles—above all, free expression, academic freedom, and viewpoint diversity. They have organized into groups, advocated for institutional change, and shined a light on the failure of colleges and universities to live up to their true mission. What was once acknowledged only by a few is now recognized by many: American higher education needs serious reform. Truly, alumni are the guardians of values that will shape education and democracy for generations.

As a select, invitation-only event, the 2024 Alumni Summit on Free Expression, co-hosted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) and the Alumni Free Speech Alliance (AFSA), will be oriented around solutions, emphasizing specific, practical steps that alumni advocates can take to advance free speech on campus and create lasting change in higher education.

This conference is made possible by the generosity of the Stanton Foundation.

Opening Reception and Dinner

May 16, 2024 | 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

The summit will begin on Thursday, May 16, at 6:00 p.m. with an opening reception and dinner. Keynote remarks will be delivered by Governor Scott Walker, President of Young America’s Foundation and 45th Governor of Wisconsin (2011-2019). Drawing on his experience as a public official and engaged citizen, Gov. Walker will address free speech as a fundamental right and its central place in liberal education and democracy, including how alumni can best defend campus free speech for all in polarized times.

Conference

May 17, 2024 | 8:00 a.m - 4:30 p.m.

Continental Breakfast - 8:00 a.m.; Box Lunch - 12:00 p.m.

On Friday, May 17, the conference will begin with breakfast at 8:00 a.m., with special remarks from Dr. William B. Allen, Professor Emeritus for Political Philosophy at Michigan State University. He will speak on how alumni can help higher education fulfill a mission that relies on the free exchange of ideas, including constructive approaches to civil discourse and debate. Following breakfast, a distinguished lineup of panels that will explore effective approaches to free speech advocacy on campus will begin.

Panels

9:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

• The National Alumni Movement in Action

This panel will feature insight and commentary from four executive team members of prominent AFSA chapters. They will share why they got involved in the alumni movement, strategies for running alumni group operations and advocacy efforts, and key successes and lessons learned to date, along with future goals.

Moderator: Dr. Bryan Paul, Director of Alumni Advocacy & Curricular Fellow for the College Debates and Discourse Alliance at ACTA.

Panelists: Peter Bonilla, Executive Director of the MIT Free Speech Alliance; Kevin Cook, Executive Director of Davidsonians for Freedom of Thought and Discourse; Kaleigh Cunningham, Director of Outreach & Communications for Princetonians for Free Speech; and Dawn Toguchi, Executive Director of Open Discourse Coalition.

• How the Open-Government Movement Is Transforming U.S. Higher Education – And How You Can Join the Revolution

Following our first panel, Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and Founder of OpenTheBooks.com, will address fiscal transparency and accountability in higher education. He will highlight OpenTheBook.com's findings at UVA and other institutions, consider how college spending affects campus free speech, and share pro tips for how alumni can obtain access to and effectively comb through their own alma maters' financial documents to hold them accountable.

• Campus Programming and Partnerships for Lasting Change

In this panel, scholars and advocates of civil discourse will consider how alumni can work with students, faculty, and administrators to protect free expression and viewpoint diversity on campus.

Moderator: Dr. Jenna Robinson, Vice Chair of AFSA & President of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal.

Panelists: Dr. Lindsay Hoffman, Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Delaware; Dr. Tabia Lee, Director of the Coalition for Empowered Education; Manu Meel, CEO of BridgeUSA; and Dr. Timothy Shaffer, Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse and director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative at the University of Delaware.

Lunch

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

During lunch, we will hear pre-recorded remarks from Governor Spencer J. Cox, 18th Governor of Utah (2021-present), who will address the role that free speech and civil discourse can play in overcoming toxic polarization in American higher education and society at large.

Civil Discourse Workshop and Braver Angels Debate

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

After lunch, alumni will learn about the College Debates and Discourse Alliance — a national program that has taught thousands of students and faculty the essential habits of respectful debate. In the first part of this session, ACTA’s Director and Program Manager of the CD&D Alliance will lead a workshop highlighting best practices in civil discourse, illustrating how alumni can help bring this program to their campus communities. In the second half, attendees will participate in a Braver Angels-style debate around a topic of their own choosing.

Roundtable Discussions

3:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.

After the civil discourse workshop and Braver Angels debate, attendees will break into small roundtable discussions to share regional/institutional knowledge and experiences and brainstorm strategies for building positive programming and partnerships on their own campuses.

Closing Remarks and Adjournment

4:15 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

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Please RSVP no later than April 30, 2024. Space for this event is limited, so please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to attend.

For more information, please contact Clare Doyle at (202) 507-4619 or cdoyle@GoACTA.org.