Let freedom be cherished that learning may flourish.

News and Press Releases

Here are some articles of interest to DFTD

MIT Faculty Vote to Accept New Free Expression Statement Supported by MIT Free Speech Alliance

CAMBRIDGE, December 27, 2022 – At last week’s final fall semester meeting of the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, attendees voted by a roughly 2 to 1 margin to adopt a formal university statement on freedom of expression. This welcome development comes roughly six months after a working group of MIT faculty proposed adopting it – one of ten recommendations the group made for improving MIT’s free expression climate. 

“The MIT Free Speech Alliance has from the beginning advocated the free expression statement’s adoption, and we’re very pleased to see the faculty take this step,” said MIT Free Speech Alliance President Charles Davis ‘87. “We especially commend the faculty who tirelessly fought for the statement’s adoption as it was debated this fall.”

Click here to read the full press release

Davidson economics professor Clark Ross's article

"Failing Introductory Economics" (October 2, 2022) was the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal's most read article in 2022. The article is nearby in "Freedom Roundup," or read it at https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2022/10/failing-introductory-economics/. The article assesses why teaching introductory economics is increasingly difficult.

Congressional Free Speech Roundtable 

On December 5, 2022, Congressman Gregory Murphy '85 (NC-3) chaired the second annual Capitol Hill roundtable on freedom of expression issues on American higher education campuses. Members of Congress attending were Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC-5),ranking member of the Education and Labor Committee; Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-2), ranking member of the Higher Education and Workforce Investment Subcommittee; Rep. Burgess Owens (IA-4), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education; and Rep. Kat Commack (FA-3), co-chair of the Congressional Free Speech Caucus. Others speaking at the forum include representatives of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the American Council for Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), Young Americans for Freedom, the Alumni Free Speech Alliance, students from UVA and W&L, and DFTD chair John Craig '66.
Click here to see the video

Following the Forum, Representative Virginia Foxx spoke in Congress on the need for universities to be held accountable when they refuse to protect free speech.

 

Douglas A. Hicks Selected as 19th President of Davidson College