In this edition of The Paladin Report, which we recorded as a live webinar on Thursday July 16, Alex Hibbs is joined by Robert Shibley of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) to talk about how the First Amendment functions on college campuses.
While free speech and the First Amendment are frequent topics in university life, students, professors, and alumni sometimes lack a sufficient grasp of what legal protections their speech actually has, especially at a private institution like Furman. This can be even more true of adjacent issues like academic freedom, Title IX, and religious liberty.
Robert Shibley, Special Counsel at FIRE, joins us today to bring some legal clarity to these issues. Shibley is exceptionally experienced in campus speech issues, having been with FIRE since 2003, with a brief hiatus to represent students and faculty in private practice. Shibley has traveled to dozens of campuses to speak about First Amendment issues and is the author of Twisting Title IX.
During our conversation, Shibley not only gives us a framework for understanding the legal side of these issues, but digs into the importance of free speech as a bipartisan issue, bringing his years of experience to bear in addressing what makes a campus truly free and open. As Furman begins its search for a new president and continues to wrestle with how it will live up to its open-discourse ideals, Shibley’s insight will prove invaluable to students, faculty, and alumni alike.
Our next webinar will take place in August, and we will announce more details soon. We hope you’ll join us!
