Free Speech Dialogue on Campus Opens Monthly Brown Bag Series Sept. 18 at UW

Free speech dialogue, focusing on campuses nationwide, is the topic of the first Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Dialogue (MLK DOD) Brown Bag Series Tuesday, Sept. 18, at the University of Wyoming.

The topic, featuring a panel discussion, will be in the Wyoming Union West Ballroom from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. The event is open to the UW community, and students are urged to attend. Lunch will be provided.

The increasing polarization of the American political landscape is mirrored on college campuses nationwide and often results in both sides accusing one another of censorship in violation of the First Amendment, says Emily Monago, UW chief diversity officer, who will moderate the panel discussion.

“The freedom of speech is one of America’s most guarded civil rights, but it is not absolute,” she says.

The program covers the history of the First Amendment right to the freedom of speech, the accepted limitations most relevant to college campuses and the framework for expressing freedom of speech on college campuses.

Among the UW panelists are Sean Blackburn, vice president for student affairs; Jacquelyn Bridgeman, interim director of the School of Culture, Gender and Social Justice; Jason McConnell, assistant professor in the School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies; and Julianne Gern, students’ attorney.

MLK DOD, Social Justice Research Center and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sponsor the Brown Bag Series.

For more information, call the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at (307) 766-6672.