In April, the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement held the seventh annual #SpeechMatters conference, “Truth, Trust and Transformation.”

Legal and academic experts, journalists and higher education leaders shared their expertise and opinions on the shifting higher education landscape and the role of colleges and universities in our democracy.

#SpeechMatters conference highlights

Watch highlights below or watch all event recordings.

(Re)Building Trust in Higher Education

Public faith in American institutions has declined, and this lack of confidence extends to higher education institutions embattled by declining enrollment, political scrutiny, and internal turmoil among campus stakeholders. This panel considered can be done to rebuild trust not only in colleges and universities, but also between the students, faculty and other administrators who feel this tension most acutely.

Lightning Talk: Co-Chairs in Conversation

The Center’s National Advisory Board Co-Chairs, Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley School of Law, and Howard Gillman, chancellor at UC Irvine, discuss recent challenges and opportunities for truth, trust and transformation on campus.

Mis/Disinformation and the Decline of Expertise

Studies continue to document increases in the amount and impact of mis- and disinformation, which together contribute to polarization and a devaluing of critical expertise. This strikes at the heart of higher education, whose purpose is to elevate facts and evidence-based reasoning in order to create new knowledge. This panel considered higher education’s role in combating these forces, and how it should make the case to the general public.

Taking the Temperature of Campus Speech

Campus protests have become commonplace in a time of geopolitical uncertainty and deep political division. Faced with a surge of activism, colleges and universities responded in a variety of ways including creating new regulations or enforcing already existing rules. What impact has this had on campus expression? Moving forward, how can colleges and universities create environments that are safe and inclusive while also upholding expressive freedom?

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