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, April 4, 2025
12:00 noon-1:00 p.m.
Red clock between Ballantine and Woodburn
[rain location: Woodburn 114]
Topic: "Attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): What is at stake for the campus community?" 
Free donuts!

Free Speech Fridays provide a space for community members to explore policy conversations uniquely impactful to them. This month's topic, "Attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): What is at stake for the campus community?" explores the legal ramifications and protections for “diversity” as a concept. How does “inclusion” account for questions of accessibility? What does this mean for the future of an equal and equitable workforce? What are the pros and cons of DEI as it has been practiced at IU? Using lenses of the Constitution, sociocultural impacts, and personal experience, discover how this topic can impact you and your future. Join us for the conversation!

Resources on the topic:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/business/trump-dei-employers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8k4.Wa7S.Vr26hTCKNmfO&smid=url-share

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/08/us/ucla-dei-statement.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8k4.0z1e.2Fne8o0ijJyl&smid=url-share

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/22/us/dei-diversity-equity-inclusion-explained/index.html

https://www.highereddive.com/news/surge-dei-cuts-wave-colleges-ohio-state-upenn-iowa/741191/

https://www.idsnews.com/article/2025/03/iu-dei-removed-diversity-language-website-posters

https://www.idsnews.com/article/2025/02/senate-bill-289-how-a-dei-targeted-bill-could-impact-iu

https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indiana-senate-approves-bill-to-ban-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-state-government-schools

https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2024/05/07/reeducation-dei-opinion

https://themilitant.com/2025/02/22/what-does-trumps-war-against-big-government-mean-for-working-people/

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/elon-musk-doge-neo-apartheid/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/business/economy/trump-dei-democrats-left-unions.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9E4.2OOZ.oJatFYwzQURD&smid=url-share

 

Future Free Speech Fridays

Friday, May 2, 2025
Red clock between Ballantine and Woodburn
[rain location: Woodburn 114]
Topic to be announced
Free donuts!

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