Schedule of Sessions
1:00–2:00 PM
Location: Gateway Center Atrium
Check in
2:00-3:15 PM
Location: Salons A & B
Opening Plenary: What Do You Want to Build? Visions of University Reform
Description: This panel brings together higher education leaders to discuss competing visions of university reform. Panelists will discuss what, if anything, needs to change in American higher education, what universities are already doing well and should preserve, and what kinds of institutional cultures, programs, and initiatives can strengthen universities’ missions.
Presenters:
- Heidi Ganahl, entrepreneur, author, speaker, politician, and former University of Colorado Regent at Large
- Ed Seidel, President, University of Wyoming
- Pamela Carriveau, Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, Black Hills State University
3:15-3:30 PM
Break
3:30-5:00 PM
Slow Change: Laying the Groundwork through Building Connections
Location: Salon A
Description: While much of the conversation on reform in higher education focuses on large, institutional change, this panel will focus on the slow, small steps individuals can and have made at their universities to promote HxA values. Panelists will share specific strategies and stories from their own experiences that illustrate the meaningful work that takes time.
Presenters:
- Jennifer Harmon, Associate Professor, Family and Consumer Science, University of Wyoming
- Catherine Johnson, Associate Lecturer, LeaRN & English, University of Wyoming
- Matt Recla, Associate Director of General Education, Boise State University
- Bethany Boucher, Director of Member & Campus Engagement, Heterodox Academy
- Jason McConnell, Director of Civil Engagement, Black Hills State University
3:30–5:00 PM
Interventions that Worked
Location: Salon B
Description: Academic professionals share on-the-ground success stories and evidence-based strategies on how to make culture change a reality on campus.
Presenters:
- Matt Burgess, Assistant Professor of Economics at University of Wyoming — Campus Dialogues
- Bryan Gentry, Director of Communications, McCausland College of Arts and Sciences at University of South Carolina — Communicating through Political Pressures
- Justin McBrayer, Director of University Partnerships at Heterodox Academy — Achieving Viewpoint Diversity
- Spencer Pelton, Wyoming State Archaeologist — Protecting Disciplines and Collections from Calls for Erasure
5:00-6:00 PM
Reception with Live Music
Location: Atrium
6:00–7:30 PM
Dinner & “Modest Proposals”
Location: Salons A & B
Dinner featuring a series of two-minute lightning talks offering creative and thought-provoking proposals for higher ed reform.
Presenters:
Multiple conference participants
9:00–10:30 AM
Legal Strategies for Institutional Repair
Location: Salon A
Description: Panelists discuss legal and policy issues related to university purpose and principles, free expression rights, and policies that can structurally protect free inquiry and expression.
Presenters:
- Ryan Ansloan, Senior Program Counsel for the Policy Reform team at Foundation for Individual Rights & Expression
- Steve McGuire, Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom at American Council of Trustees and Alumni
- Tara Evans, Vice President and General Counsel at University of Wyoming
9:00–10:30 AM
Centers of Practice
Location: Salon B
Description: Leaders of university centers discuss establishing and sustaining centers, remaining nonpartisan, balancing public-facing and scholarly missions, and navigating internal and external pressures.
Presenters:
- Taylor Jaworski, Interim Director, Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization at University of Colorado Boulder
- Martín Carcasson, Director, Center for Public Deliberation at Colorado State University
- Mary Kate Cary, Executive Director, John and Sandy Miller National Academy for Free Expression and Pluralism at University of Denver
- Charles Sims, Director, Center for Energy, Transportation, and Environmental Policy, Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at University of Tennessee
10:45 AM–12:00 PM
Faculty and Organizational Development to Protect Open Inquiry
Location: Salon A
Description: This session highlights successful initiatives, programs, workshops, and tools that help faculty uphold academic freedom and free expression, exercise sound judgment when addressing controversial topics, and maintain classrooms that support open inquiry.
Presenters
- Leila Brammer, University of Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression -- Free Inquiry and Expression: Principles into Classroom Practice
- Simon Cullen, Heterodox Academy Faculty Research Fellow -- How an AI-Powered Platform Fosters Rigorous, Evidence-Based Dialogue Among Students on Controversial Topics
- Martha McCaughey, University of Wyoming Free Expression, Intellectual Freedom, & Constructive Dialogue Program -- Building a Culture of Free Inquiry Through Faculty and Organizational Development
10:45 AM–12:00 PM
Engaging Citizenship in the Classroom
Location: Salon B
Description: Preparing students for thoughtful and intentional engagement as citizens is a core function of higher education, and a prerequisite for public trust. This panel highlights faculty who are preparing students to engage critically as citizens in a diverse republic, as well as those who are envisioning curricular shifts to fulfill this goal more effectively. This session will provide ideas and practices for implementation on your own campus in the areas of free speech, constructive dialogue, a civics curriculum, and more.
Presenters:
- Scott Moorcroft, Director of the Master of Athletic Leadership Program at Boise State University — The Last Arena: Building the Athletic Leader
- Matt Moreali, Instructor, First-Year Seminar and Pre-Law Advisor at Southern Oregon University — Undergraduate Free Speech Curriculum: Can Foundational Instruction Improve Discourse on Campus and Beyond?
- Steven Pittz, Director, Center for the Study of Government and the Individual at University of Colorado Colorado Springs — Teaching Civic Discourse
12:00–1:15 PM
World Café Lunch
Location: Salons A & B
Description: Facilitated small-group conversations focused on questions about higher ed institutional culture.
1:15-1:30 PM
Break
1:30–5:30 PM
Concurrent Workshops
The Chicago Principles: A Deep Dive with the Leaders of the University of Chicago
Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression
Location: Salon A
An extended workshop exploring academic freedom, institutional neutrality, and public trust.
Workshop Leaders:
- Leila Brammer, Director of Curriculum, Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression at University of Chicago
- Tom Ginsburg, Faculty Director, Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression at University of Chicago
Schedule:
1:30–2:30 PM
Academic Freedom: History and Current Tensions (focus on tensions in the Mountain
West)
2:30-2:35 PM break
2:35–3:35 PM
Institutional Neutrality and the Chicago Tradition (with case study)
3:35-3:50 PM break
3:50–5:00 PM
Academic Freedom, the State, and Public Trust
5:00–5:30 PM
Reflections, Next Steps, and Discussion
Dialogue, Debate, and Deliberation about Universities
Location: Salon B
Description: Three organizations demonstrate distinct approaches to dialogue, deliberation, and debate through participatory sessions focused on universities.
Schedule:
1:30–2:45 PM
Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation
Martín Carcasson
Free Speech on Campus
2:45-2:50 PM break
2:50–4:05 PM
BridgeUWYO Student Leaders
Has Higher Education Shifted from Learning to Earning—and What Does That Mean for
Opportunity?
4:05-4:15 PM break
4:15–5:30 PM
Steamboat Institute Debate
Resolution: Resolved: Institutional neutrality is necessary to preserve the university as a forum for open inquiry rather than an actor in political disputes.
Debaters:
- Jonathan Turley, George Washington University Law School
- Todd Wolfson, President, American Association of University Professors
5:30-6:00 PM
Break
6:00–7:30 PM
Keynote Dinner
Location: Salons A & B
The Spirit of Liberal Freedom
Keynote Speaker:
- Steven Pittz, Director, Center for the Study of Government and the Individual, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, and author of Recovering the Liberal Spirit: Nietzsche, Individuality, and Spiritual Freedom
7:30–8:30 PM
Reception and Book Signing with Steven Pittz
Location: Atrium
9:00–10:30 AM
Principled Governance
Location: Salon A
Description: University leaders discuss the principles they seek to uphold, the challenges that test those principles, and how governments can better support principled governance in higher education.
Presenters:
- Scott Beaulier, H.A. (Dave) True Family Dean of Business, University of Wyoming
- Pamela Carriveau, Provost and VP of Academic Affairs, Black Hills State University
- Nicole Cousins, Director of Issues Management and Spokesperson, University of Colorado Boulder
10:45 AM–12:00 PM
Closing Reflective Conversation
Location: Salon A
Learning from Our Academic Insiders
Presenter:
- John Tomasi, President of Heterodox Academy
12:00 PM
Conference Adjourns
