The Jefferson Independent’s mission, first and foremost, is to promote freedom of speech on Grounds. There are many ways to do this, such as reporting on perspectives that might be controversial, writing articles that freely express the author’s views, and covering events that are in line with TJI’s mission. Accomplishing the last of these tasks can be difficult, as there are hundreds of events that take place on Grounds every semester. To make the job of highlighting events that have promoted freedom of speech on Grounds easier, we’ve made a list of the ten that we feel did the best job.
- August 29th: ‘Watchdogs’: Holding the Government Accountable
At this event hosted by the Miller Center, Glenn Fine, former Inspector General of the Department of Justice, and Craig Whitlock, an investigative reporter at The Washington Post, discussed government accountability and Fine’s new book on the topic through the lens of government. Fine argued for an independent Inspector General willing to stand up for accountability and justice, even if it means they will be unpopular among their peers. He also discussed how the American public’s tax money is used and where the government’s money often ends up.
- September 10th: The President’s Panel on the Future of Higher Education
At this panel, UVA’s President Jim Ryan hosted a discussion with the presidents of three other universities: Michael Crow of Arizona State University, Harriet Nembhard of Harvey Mudd College, and Santa Ono of the University of Michigan. The four university presidents discussed the different philosophies governing the universities they ran: Arizona State, for example, seeks to provide as many students as possible with as broad of an education as possible, while Harvey Mudd offers a smaller set of courses to a much smaller undergraduate class. The panel was covered by TJI earlier in the semester.
- September 19th: How Economic Policy Shapes American Democracy
At this event hosted by the Karsh Institute of Democracy, Carola Binder, professor of civic leadership and economics at the University of Texas at Austin, and Darden Professor Michael Lenox discussed Binder’s new book on the history of inflation in the United States. Binder explained that inflation has held a different economic role at different points in American history, sometimes benefiting some people and sometimes benefiting others; in contemporary American politics, finding bipartisan solutions to inflation is increasingly difficult, though Binder expressed hope that economic conditions will ease. The talk was part of the Karsh Institute’s Touchstones of Democracy series, which looks at the foundations of American democracy from different perspectives. Earlier in the semester, The Jefferson Independent covered this event.
- September 19th-20th: Technologies of Silence: Exploring Law, Tactics, and Norms that Silence Essential Voices
This event was hosted by UVA’s Sound Justice Lab, and sought to show how the American legal system and social norms of civility and etiquette can silence the voices of many people, especially marginalized groups. The event dealt with responses to legal questions on abortion, such as the recent Dobbs v. Jackson ruling; banned books and forms of art that are considered taboo; and the role of lawyers in society.
- September 23rd: Greg Lukianoff on Free Speech
This talk was co-hosted by the Blue Ridge Center and the Heterodox Academy, a viewpoint diversity advocacy group founded by psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expressions (“FIRE”), spoke about the state of free speech at UVA and how it can improve. His organization has developed a ranking system for free speech at universities, in which UVA placed first in this year. While Lukianoff commended the University’s policies protecting free speech, he noted that there is still progress to be made on student and faculty self-expression. This talk was covered by a TJI writer earlier this semester.
- September 26th: AI-Generated Visual Misinformation, Propaganda, and Democracy
At this Karsh Institute panel, Renee DiResta, a social media researcher, Santiago Lyon, lead figure at the Content Authenticity Initiative, and Samuel Woolley, chair of Disinformation Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, discussed the threats to modern society from AI disinformation. They emphasized that AI-generated content, particularly political propaganda, presents a threat to healthy democratic discourse, and that if the public and policy experts do not work together, it could pose a serious threat to public trust and free expression.
- October 17th: Free Speech @60: 60 Years of the Free Speech Movement on College Campuses
This event, organized by the Heterodox Academy and Think Again, a free-speech organization at UVA, commemorated the 60th anniversary of the college free speech movement, which was founded by students at UC Berkeley amidst the high social tensions of the 1960s. Bari Weiss, founder of the Free Press, and Mitch Daniels, former Governor of Indiana and president of Purdue University, spoke at the event. Both criticized what they perceived as a rise in identity politics, and encouraged students to pursue free speech initiatives at their own schools and question established dogmas. For more information, feel free to look at the two articles about the event that TJI staff wrote.
- October 18th: Salam Fayyad, former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority
At this event, hosted at the Rotunda by the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society and the Miller Center, former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Salam Fayyad gave a talk about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, while Miller Center professor Mara Rudman moderated. Fayyad gave his thoughts on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, spoke about the viability of a two-state solution, and made predictions on the future of the conflict. Importantly, he emphasized the need for Western observers to understand that many on the Palestinian side have very different interpretations of the peace process and the war in Gaza, and that understanding this different perspective is a crucial step on the way to peace.
- October 30th-November 3rd: The Virginia Film Festival
The Virginia Film Festival, organized by the University of Virginia, has been a presence in Charlottesville for 37 years. This year, the Festival showed over 100 films, coming from a diverse range of viewpoints and covering numerous topics. These included “Anora,” which details the story of a sex worker in New York City; “Defenders of Democracy: The Thin Blue Line,” a documentary interviewing police officers present at the January 6th riots at the Capitol; and “Intercepted,” a documentary covering intercepted phone calls of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. TJI covered the Film Festival earlier this semester.
- November 19th: How Americans Can Disagree Better
At a Democracy Dialogues event hosted by the Miller Center, Governors Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Spencer Cox of Utah—a Democrat and Republican respectively—discussed how people of different political views can respectfully disagree with each other, and how state governments can help to set an example for this. The two emphasized dialogue on the local and personal level, viewing disagreements as natural, and keeping an open mind about new topics. An article from TJI recently covered this panel.
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