UC Center for Free Speech & Civic Engagement

📢 New #SpeechMatters podcast episode! 🎧 Tune in to the latest episode, “Voting and Education: The Only Way Forward” with guest Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., California Secretary of State. @CASOSVote ▶️ buff.ly/slMbXVW

How can colleges model civic engagement? By joining efforts to strengthen at-risk voter protections. Explore what democracy looks like in this op-ed. ⤵️ buff.ly/wnmXOE3

Read how academic freedom must accommodate a broad range of ideas and propositions in this essay. 👇 buff.ly/KtDkx81

The Florida Board of Governors determined that existing Introduction to Sociology textbooks and course materials did not comply with new state law. Read how defending sociology in Florida defends academic freedom nationally. ⬇️ buff.ly/2XITXWw

🚨Only 2 weeks left to apply! Get your application in for our 2026-2027 fellows program. Applications are due by Monday, March 30th at midnight. For more information on the fellowship program: 🔗 buff.ly/wcCZv5b

The University of Texas system board asked faculty to avoid controversial topics that are not germane to their classes. Faculty say the vague policy could encourage self-censorship. 👇 buff.ly/i9VlQSI

Former Fellow Robert Cohen warns that today’s pressures on universities may have an even greater chilling effect on campus speech than the McCarthy era. ⬇️ buff.ly/wAv50xw

A new report released by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation displays that just 2 percent of college students say they feel they don’t belong on campus due to their political views. Read more: buff.ly/sSjAFGW

📢 Register NOW for #SpeechMatters! Join us virtually on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 from 8:30am-12:00pm PT/11:30-3:00 pm ET to hear from legal and academic experts, journalists, artists and activists. View the agenda: buff.ly/zJA65HS

Former Fellow John K. Wilson discusses the repression of academic freedom seen across Texas universities. 👇 buff.ly/xS3fAGe

New developments in four more states could significantly change the landscape of faculty tenure across higher education. Read more: buff.ly/qKwKN75

The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has a new policy governing recording in classes. What effect will this policy have on the ongoing discussions of academic freedom? 🔗 buff.ly/lZP7pn1

This year, #StudentPressFreedom Day from @splc highlights the resilience of student journalists even as censorship, intimidation and legal threats escalate. Learn more: buff.ly/ob1xsnl

Public institutions across Oklahoma eliminate tenure protections. What does this removal of protections mean for academic freedom? ⤵️ buff.ly/PkRQ8Ff

Fellow Bryan Gentry writes about independent thinking in the current age of technology. 💡 buff.ly/gocpWfE

Register now for #SpeechMatters 2026! Registration is now open for our eighth annual virtual #SpeechMatters conference, “Preserving the Pillars of Free Expression,” on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 8:30 am - 12:00 pm PT | 11:30 am - 3:00 pm ET. 🔗 buff.ly/tQZAh8A

Former Fellow Anil Kalhan discusses Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right by David M. Rabban in a Winter 2026 piece about the uneven path of academic freedom under the First Amendment. buff.ly/EgEqcO9

Have questions about our 2026-2027 fellows program? Register for one of the two upcoming information sessions: Thursday, February 19 at 10:00 am PT | 1:00 pm ET Tuesday, February 24 at 12:00 pm PT | 3pm ET. 🔗 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

We are now accepting applications for our 2026-2027 class of Fellows! Applications are due by Monday, March 30th at midnight. For more information on the fellowship program and past fellows projects: …eechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/programs-and-r…

Some professors and free-expression groups say increased classroom surveillance is fueling a wave of censorship that they argue threatens academic freedom.👇 buff.ly/PZ6Pv0i

Read this op-ed arguing that college deans aren’t protected by academic freedom in the same way as professors and that managerial authority can place limits on speech. 🔗 buff.ly/7pidHRj