At this fractious moment in our nation’s history, many CIC colleges and universities are elevating student preparation for engaged citizenship and civic leadership as an institutional focus. Members are seeking new ways to bolster their students’ skills for civil discourse and respectful conversation across principled disagreement.
To support to CIC members in meeting these aims, in 2024 the Council of Independent Colleges invited the Campus Free Expression Project, which was launched at the Bipartisan Policy Center in 2019, and its founding director Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill, to join CIC. The Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression, led by bipartisan co-chairs former governors Chris Gregoire (D-WA) and Jim Douglas (R-VT), has continued its work at CIC, releasing updated editions of its signature report, Campus Free Expression: A New Roadmap, with guidance for presidents, trustees, faculty members, and student affairs officers.
The Campus Free Expression Project is a resource for all CIC member institutions. Member presidents and institutional leaders considering how to craft durable policy and culture change on free expression may contact Project Director Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill for consultation.
There are other opportunities to engage the Campus Free Expression Project this semester, including:
- Member institutions may apply to participate in the CIC-Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) cohort for the 2025–26 academic year. Cohort institutions will use the Perspectives student program and have access to a CIC-CDI peer learning community. The cohort will consist of ten CIC members; institutional CDI applications are due February 17. To learn more about CIC’s cohort partnership, contact Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill. To learn more about CDI and its Perspectives program, contact CDI’s Director of Partnerships Kourtney Bradshaw-Clay.
- Tune in to hear from Academic Leaders Task Force on Campus Free Expression member and Baylor University (TX) President Linda Livingstone on the Harvard Graduate School of Education Education Now webinar “Maintaining a Culture of Free Expression on Campus.” The webinar will air live on February 13, at 3:00 p.m. (ET). Register for the webinar.
- If you or a colleague will participate in the American Conference of Academic Deans (ACAD) Annual Meeting, please plan to attend the Fostering a Free Expression and Civil Discourse Culture workshop. The ACAD conference runs February 19–21, in Phoenix, AZ.
- Join CIC at SWSW EDU and attend CIC-led sessions, including a workshop on Teaching Civil Discourse in the Classroom. SXSW EDU is offering CIC and NetVUE members a promotional rate, available through February 25. SXSW EDU takes place March 3–6, in Austin, TX.
- If you or a colleague will attend the Campus Compact Compact25 conference, join the Student Affairs Success Strategies: Building Student Civil Discourse Skills in a Polarized Time workshop co-led by Spelman College (GA) Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Daryl Low and Project Director Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill. Compact25 takes place March 31–April 2, in Atlanta, GA.
If you have questions about CIC’s Campus Free Expression Project, contact Project Director Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill.