Free Speech Fridays

PACE Presents: Free Speech Fridays

Free Speech Fridays offer us the opportunity to put our First Amendment free speech rights into action. Sessions focus on controversial issues of wide interest and are free and open to the public. Our goal is to facilitate passionate but civil discussion that can empower participants to think for themselves. Free Speech Fridays provide one way that PACE, in the words of the program’s vision statement, “cultivates knowledge, develops leadership, and builds communication skills to prepare members of the IU community to take action for positive change.” Join us!

Guidelines for Free Speech Friday discussions:

  • All views are welcome, but please do your best to keep your comments civil, respectful, and focused on the content of the ideas raised and not the people who have raised them.
  • Listen to understand
  • Listen for common ground
  • When you disagree, do so with curiosity, not hostility
  • Refrain from interrupting
  • Keep your comments brief to maximize the participation of all speakers

Next Free Speech Friday

Friday, May 2, 2025
12:00 noon-1:00 p.m.
Red clock between Ballantine and Woodburn
[rain location: Woodburn 114]
Topic: "Federal Immigration Policies: Deportation, and Citizenship" 
Free pizza!

Free Speech Fridays provide a space for community members to explore policy conversations uniquely impactful to them. This month's topic is Federal Immigration Policies: Deportation, and Citizenship. We explore the roots and impact of the present atmosphere of immigration into the United States. What does it mean to be a citizen? What is the purpose of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency? What does it mean to deport a person? Why has the federal government selected certain groups of people to deport? What does all of this mean for the social, financial, and cultural impacts on the immigrant population and on the nation as a whole. Join us for the conversation!

Resources on the topic:

https://www.idsnews.com/article/2025/02/immigration-trump-iu-protest-ice-deportation

https://fox59.com/news/indynews/previously-deported-mexican-citizen-arrested-in-bloomington-after-ice-investigation/

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/30/g-s1-63415/top-5-immigration-changes-trump-first-100-days

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/us/politics/trump-deportations-venezuela-el-salvador.html?unlocked_article_code=1.D08.-Gny.Aeg4gsMgNuz1&smid=url-share

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/04/30/100-days-fighting-fake-news

https://immigrationforum.org/article/the-first-100-days-of-the-second-trump-administration-key-immigration-related-actions-and-developments/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/palestinian-activist-khalil-mahmoud-can-fight-wrongful-detention-case-rcna203654

https://www.foxnews.com/us/anti-israel-ringleader-mahmoud-khalils-free-speech-lawsuit-against-us-government-must-heard-judge

https://themilitant.com/2025/03/22/oppose-use-of-witch-hunt-law-to-deport-mahmoud-khalil/

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/30/judge-frees-columbia-student-activist-whom-trump-administration-wants-to-deport-00317981

https://www.idsnews.com/article/2025/04/student-visa-canceled-indiana-university

Future Free Speech Fridays

To be announced

Contact us

Carl Weinberg
Teaching Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Adjunct Associate Professor, Dept. of History
Director, PACE Institute for Role-Immersive Teaching and Learning (PIRTL)
812-856-5111
crweinbe@indiana.edu