Schedule
June 5-6, 2025
Penrose House at El Pomar Foundation
THURSDAY June 5
9:15 - 10:00 AM - Coffee & Light Breakfast
10:00 - 10:05 AM - Introduction by R. Thayer Tutt
10:05 - 10:30 AM - Opening Remarks by Steven Pittz
10:30 - 12:00 PM - Cornel West & Robert George: “Common Ground: A Civil Conversation”
12:15 - 1:00 PM - Lunch Buffett
(12:15 - 2:00 PM - VIP Lunch with CU System Leadership)
(1:15 - 2:45 PM - Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) - Let’s Talk: Student Civil Discourse Workshop)
1:15 - 1:29 PM - Rocky Mountain Public Media: “Rise Above the Noise”
1:20 - 2:50 PM - FIRE: “The First Amendment in 2025”
3:00 - 4:45 PM - Free Speech on University Campuses and Beyond. Moderated by Joshua Dunn (Tennessee)
Nadine Strossen (NYLS): “Challenges to Expression on Campus and Beyond”
Greg Lukianoff (FIRE): “Cancel Culture & The Conformity Gauntlet in Higher Education”
Jon Zimmerman (Penn): “Free Speech and Why You Should Give a Damn”
5:00 - 6:30 PM - Cocktails and Appetizers
FRIDAY June 6
9:30 - 9:55 AM: Coffee and Light Breakfast
9:55 - 10:00 AM - Remarks by Mayor Yemi Mobolade
10:00 – 12:00 PM - The Role of Civics Education in Liberal Democratic Society. Moderated by Constantine Vassiliou (UCCS)
Paul Carrese (ASU): “Colleges and Universities Owe America, and Students, a Civic Education of Reflective Patriotism and Preparation for Civic Leadership”
Joshua Dunn (Tennessee): “A New Civics Education for a Wholly New World?”
Shilo Brooks (Princeton): “Liberal Education and the Life of Freedom”
12:00 – 1:00: Lunch Buffet
1:15 - 3:15 PM - Academic Freedom and the Mission of the University. Moderated by Taylor Jaworski (CU Boulder)
Michael Poliakoff (ACTA): “The Wasteland of Academic Freedom”
Martha McCaughey (Wyoming): “The Distinction Between Scholarship and Activism”
Alexandra Lysova (Simon Fraser): “The Slow Creep of Ideological Control: Warnings from Russia’s Past for Canadian and Western Universities”
George Yancey (Baylor): “How Losing Academic Freedom Harms Science”
3:15 – 3:30: Concluding Remarks -- Steven Pittz