Colleges and universities play a special role in our democracy in preparing the next generation for civic leadership and teaching the values of mutual respect and principled disagreement. But, campus controversies over free expression and academic freedom have shown that the climate of open inquiry on many campuses is being constrained.
The Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression was created to explore the factors that have made attempts to foster a free expression campus culture so difficult. The task force was charged with developing free expression strategies and policies that function as a roadmap and can be adapted to each school’s unique history, mission, and community and commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The task force is co-chaired by former governors Chris Gregoire (WA) and Jim Douglas (VT), and its members include a diverse group of leaders representing public and private institutions, an HBCU, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, two denominational institutions, and national civic organizations.
Co-Chairs
Jim Douglas
Executive in Residence, Middlebury College
Jim Douglas served Vermont for more than 35 years, beginning in the Vermont House of Representatives where he served a term as majority leader. He was elected secretary of state in 1980, a post he held for twelve years. He was elected state treasurer in 1994, where he served for eight years. Mr. Douglas was elected Governor in 2002 and re-elected three times. He has chaired the National Governors Association. In 2010, President Obama appointed him to co-chair the Council of Governors. Mr. Douglas served on BPC’s Governors’ Council and BPC’s Task Force on Higher Education Financing and Student Outcomes. Mr. Douglas is now Executive in Residence at Middlebury College, his alma mater.
Chris Gregoire
Chief Executive Officer, Challenge Seattle
Christine Gregoire is the CEO of Challenge Seattle, which is an alliance of CEOs from 23 of the region’s largest organizations who work together to tackle some of our most pressing civic challenges, such as housing, homelessness, and transportation.
Previously, Chris served for two terms as Governor of the State of Washington with a $32B biennial budget and over 60,000 employees. In her first term as Governor, she created the Department of Early Learning and led on reforms to the K-12 system and investment in higher education. Chris led the state in a historical investment in infrastructure including the building of the largest floating bridge in the world and the largest transportation tunnel to open up Seattle’s waterfront. She addressed the water wars in the state and established the Puget Sound initiative to restore one of the nation’s major estuaries. She led an historic number of trade missions, reformed the foster care system to protect children, and was among the first to lead in health care reform. During her second term, Chris led the state in major reforms, management, and budgeting to position the state as one of the most financially secure to come out of the “Great Recession”.
Prior to becoming Governor, Chris served for three terms as Attorney General for the State, and prior to becoming Attorney General, Chris served four years as the Director of the State Department of Ecology. In addition to being CEO of Challenge Seattle, Chris serves as the Washington co-chair for the Cascadia Innovation Corridor and is a former chair of the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center and former Member of the National Bipartisan Governor’s Council.
Members
Ronald A. Crutcher
President Emeritus and University Professor, University of Richmond
Ronald A. Crutcher is president emeritus and University Professor at the University of Richmond where he served as President from 2015-2021. He previously served as president of Wheaton College (MA) for ten years. He writes and speaks widely on the democratic purposes of higher education and free expression on college campuses. In 2021, he was appointed a Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute.
During his 45-year career in higher education, Crutcher has consulted with higher education institutions, non-profit organizations, and corporations in the USA and abroad on issues related to organizational culture, especially bridging racial and cultural divides. His thematic memoir, I Had No Idea You Were Black: Navigating Race on the Road to Leadership, was published in February 2021.
Crutcher began studying cello at the age 15 with Professor Elizabeth Potteiger, a faculty member at Miami University; he won the Cincinnati Symphony Young Artist Competition at the age of 17. He is a former member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and several other symphonies. For almost forty years, he performed in the U.S. and Europe as a member of The Klemperer Trio. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in March 1985
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Miami University of Ohio, he received a master’s and a doctoral degree from Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from Colgate University, Muhlenberg College, Randolph Macon College, Wheaton College (MA), University of Richmond, and the University of New England. Crutcher also speaks German and lived and worked in Germany for several years. He has been married for 45 years to Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher, a higher education consultant and professor. They have one daughter, Sara Crutcher Moore, who lives in Spain with her husband, Lieutenant Commander Daniel Moore.
Daniel Cullen
Professor of Philosophy, Rhodes College
Daniel Cullen is professor of philosophy at Rhodes College, where he teaches a wide variety of courses in political philosophy and the humanities and directs the Project for the Study of Liberal Democracy. He is Senior Fellow for Constitutional Studies at the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Constitutional Principles and History, and he served on the board of the Association for Core Text Studies and Courses, an international liberal arts organization dedicated to fostering the use of world classics and other texts of major cultural significance in undergraduate education. His writings include Freedom in Rousseau’s Political Philosophy, Liberal Democracy and Liberal Education, and numerous essays on issues in modern political philosophy, democratic theory, and liberal education. Dr. Cullen received his MA from Dalhousie University and his PhD from Boston College.
Ross Irwin
Chief Operating Officer, BridgeUSA
Ross Irwin is an alumnus of the University of California Berkeley, where he graduated in May 2020, and now serves as COO of BridgeUSA. In this role, Mr. Irwin is responsible for chapter expansion and ensuring uniformity and cohesiveness among BridgeUSA’s many campus chapters. He is focused on creating community and conversation on campus as many students face uncertainty, stress, and loneliness. Coming to Berkeley from the rural town of Sonora, California, showed him first-hand the impact of political polarization on the student body. Mr. Irwin got to know people on both ends of the political spectrum who hate “the other side” fiercely and yet have never had a discussion with them. Mr. Irwin’s undergraduate degree is in business administration.
William A. Keyes IV
Founder and President, The Institute for Responsible Citizenship
William Keyes founded the Institute for Responsible Citizenship in 2003. The organization selects some of America’s best and brightest African American male college students for an intensive two-summer program in Washington, DC. Its accomplished alumni include Rhodes Scholars, Fulbright Scholars, and the recipients of numerous other academic awards. For his work in education, Dr. Keyes was given the Mac A. Stewart Distinguished Award for Service from Ohio State University, and he received the Warrior Award at the 2017 International Colloquium on Black Males in Education. Dr. Keyes has served on the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as on the university’s Board of Visitors and the Advisory Board of the Institute for the Arts & Humanities. He earned his PhD from the University of North Carolina, where he was admitted to the Order of the Golden Fleece, the highest honorary society at UNC and the oldest of its type in the country.
Walter M. Kimbrough
Interim President, Talladega College
Dr. Walter Kimbrough is the interim president of Talladega College. Previously, at the age of 37, Walter was named the 12th president of Philander Smith College. In 2012 he became the 7th president of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Walter has been recognized for his research and writings on HBCUs and African American men in college. Recently he has emerged as one of the leaders discussing free speech on college campuses. Walter also has been noted for his active use of social media. He was cited by Education Dive as one of 10 college presidents on Twitter who are doing it right (@HipHopPrez), and in 2015 he was named by The Best Schools.org as one of the 20 most interesting college presidents. In 2020 he was named by College Cliffs as one of 50 Top U.S. College and University Presidents. Dr. Kimbrough has forged a national reputation as an expert on fraternities and sororities, with specific expertise regarding historically Black, Latin and Asian groups. He is the author of the book, Black Greek 101: The Culture, Customs and Challenges of Black Fraternities and Sororities, and has served as an expert witness in a number of hazing cases.
Krista can be reached at khughes@cic.edu or (803) 321-5215.
Linda A. Livingstone
President, Baylor University
Dr. Linda A. Livingstone is the fifteenth president of Baylor University and previously served as Dean and Professor of Management at the George Washington University School and at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. Dr. Livingstone is a scholar in organizational behavior, leadership, creativity, and university accreditation. She published extensively and been cited in dozens of academic and professional outlets. She serves on the governing boards of the NCAA Board of Governors (chair), the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, the Big 12 Conference Board of Directors (chair), the American Council on Education, Independent Colleges and Universities, of Texas, Inc., Capital Southwest Industrials, and Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Livingstone earned her BS, MA, and PhD from Oklahoma State University.
John Arthur Nunes
Interim President, California Lutheran University
John A. Nunes is an author, speaker, and interim president of California Lutheran University, a private, liberal arts, Hispanic-serving university in Thousand Oaks, California. Dr. Nunes previously served as president of Concordia College- New York, president and CEO of Lutheran World Relief, professor at Valparaiso University, and as an inner-city pastor in Dallas, Texas and Detroit, Michigan. With Alberto García he co-authored Wittenberg Meets the World: Reimagining the Reformation from the Margins (Eerdmans, 2017). His newest volume, Meant for More: In, With, and Under the Ordinary, was released in October 2020. Dr. Nunes earned his BA from Concordia University-Ann Arbor, his MDiv from Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary, and his PhD from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
Ronald S. Rochon
President, University of Southern Indiana
After eight years as provost, Dr. Ronald S. Rochon became the University of Southern Indiana’s fourth president in July 2018. His academic and professional career has focused on advocating for educational excellence, access, equity and equality. His work centers on the needs and advancement of diverse learners within underserved schools and communities and their integral contributions to the larger society. In leadership, he cultivates a campus culture of care, where students develop intellectually, emotionally, socially and culturally through their educational experiences.
Rochon came to USI from Buffalo State in Buffalo, New York, where he served as the inaugural dean of the School of Education, associate vice president for Teacher Education and professor. He was director and co-founder of the Research Center for Cultural Diversity and Community Renewal at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, as well as interim associate dean and director of the school of education. He also taught at Texas A&M University and Washington State University. Dr. Rochon earned a bachelor’s degree at Tuskegee University and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Carol A. Sumner
Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Northern Illinois University
Dr. Carol A. Sumner is the vice president and chief diversity officer at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Sumner reports directly to the president and is a President’s Cabinet and Executive Council member. She leads the Division of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in her new role and serves as the university’s Chief Diversity Officer. The division comprises five Cultural Centers, Social Justice Education, Prevention Education and Outreach, and programmatic efforts that support faculty and staff and community engagement.
As Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Sumner collaborates and partners with university leadership and administration, students, faculty, staff, and community partners. These efforts include the facilitation of several Presidential Commissions and community partnerships. She will also work alongside various university and community partners as we seek to advance NIU from an Emerging to a fully designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).
Lori S. White
President, DePauw University
Lori S. White is the 21st President of DePauw University and Professor of Education.
Dr. White has spent over 40 years working in higher education. Prior to her arrival at DePauw she served as the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis and Professor of Practice in Education. Dr. White has also worked in various student and academic affairs leadership positions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Southern California, Stanford, Georgetown and San Diego State Universities, and University of California, Irvine.
Dr. White is active nationally in several higher education organizations and is on the Board of Directors for the Council for Independent Colleges (CIC) and College Well. She co-chairs the Association of Governing Boards Council of Presidents, is part of the College Presidents for Civic Preparedness group sponsored by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars and has served on the accountability committee for National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). A longtime leader in student affairs, Dr. White chaired the 2016-17 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Board of Directors, was named a Pillar of the Profession by NASPA in 2009 and received NASPA’s Fred Turner Award for Outstanding Service to the Profession in 2024. Dr. White, along with five other liberal arts college presidents, founded the Liberal Arts Colleges Racial Equity Alliance (LACRELA). She also served on the Bipartisan Policy Center Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression.
Contact Information
For further information and for all questions, contact Jacquie Pfeffer Merrill, director of the Campus Free Expression Project, at jpfeffermerrill@cic.edu or (202) 552-8962.