Celebrating Freedom of Expression

Photo courtesy of Dylan Lindsey. 

Higher education is a place for people of all backgrounds to learn, question, and pursue truth together. At the University of Denver, that work is grounded in a commitment to free expression, pluralism, and academic freedom. In a recent newsletter, Chancellor Jeremy Haefner championed academic freedom as particularly vital to higher education. 

“Academic freedom is a bedrock principle that supports everything we do at the University,” he wrote. “When we protect this value, it becomes possible for our community to hold dialogue across differences, recognize the humanity in others, persuade audiences through evidence and facts, and ask challenging questions through free inquiry.” 

To that end, DU is hosting two different events on free expression at the Cable Center in April. Both events are free and open to the public. Keep scrolling to learn more and register.

The Future of the American University: An Evening With Lee Bollinger

Lee Bollinger, president emeritus of Columbia University, will visit the Cable Center on April 9 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for a conversation about the future of American universities. Bollinger, a renowned scholar on free expression, was the president of Columbia University from 2002 to 2023, and a faculty member at Columbia Law School. Previously, he served as president of the University of Michigan. In 2003, Bollinger was the defendant in the Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger, which ruled colleges could consider race in the admissions process as a means of promoting campus diversity—a precedent the Court overturned 20 years later.  

Bollinger has published 12 books, both independently and with fellow scholars like Geoffrey R. Stone of the University of Chicago Law School. His latest is “University: A Reckoning,” which examines how the structure of modern universities both benefits them and leaves them vulnerable. Bollinger argues that universities are key to preserving democracy and that academic freedom must be viewed as an integral part of the First Amendment. 

You can register for the conversation here.

Live Taping: ‘Advisory Opinions’ Podcast With Sarah Isgur and David French

The Cable Center is also hosting journalist Sarah Isgur and New York Times columnist David French for a live taping of their podcast, “Advisory Opinions,” on April 21. Isgur, an attorney, was a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice during the first Trump Administration and is now a senior editor at The Dispatch, a conservative media outlet. French is a former attorney and political commentator whose work has also appeared in The Dispatch, National Review, and The Atlantic. “Advisory Opinions” is a twice-weekly legal podcast from The Dispatch in which Isgur and French analyze politics, policy, and culture from a conservative perspective. The taping at the Cable Center will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Isgur and French will participate in other events across campus that day. You can register for the taping here.