On Thursday, May 14, the University of Delaware will host a campus-wide conversation on academic freedom, featuring constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen. The event, “Academic Freedom: Principles, Protections, and Responsibilities,” will take place from 2–5 p.m. in Gore Recital Hall at the Roselle Center for the Arts.

Registration for the event is free. Pre-registration is encouraged.

Part of the Presidential Shine the Light Series, the program will examine the role academic freedom plays in higher education and how universities can encourage open, respectful dialogue in increasingly complex academic and civic environments. The event is presented by the Office of the Provost in collaboration with the American Association of University Professors - University of Delaware Chapter, the Faculty Senate, the Chairs’ Caucus, the Community Engagement Initiative and the SNF Ithaca Initiative.

The afternoon will open with a keynote address from Rosen, followed by a panel discussion and a reception that continues the day’s broader conversation. Rosen, CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, has spent decades working at the intersection of constitutional law, civic education and democratic discourse, bringing a national perspective to questions many colleges and universities are actively grappling with. 

“Academic freedom is a foundational commitment at the University of Delaware,” said Interim Provost Bill Farquhar. “It enables the learning, research, innovation and service that make up the core of our institutional mission. I’m eager to hear from Jeffrey Rosen and our own faculty experts about how we can continue to protect and advance academic freedom throughout higher education.”

The panel discussion will be moderated by Timothy J. Shaffer, who leads the SNF Ithaca Initiative at UD, and will explore the responsibilities that accompany academic freedom, including the practice of civil discourse across differences. Shaffer is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Chair of Civil Discourse and director of the SNF Ithaca Initiative in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration.

“Academic freedom and civil discourse are inseparable—each depends on our willingness to engage openly, listen across differences, and pursue truth with intellectual humility,” said Shaffer. “In the Biden School, we see this work as essential to preparing students, professors and communities to navigate disagreement productively and strengthen our shared civic life on campus and beyond.”

Panelists will include UD faculty members, Jennifer Lambe and Dominique Baker, who will bring perspectives from communication, public policy and education to the discussion. 

Together, the keynote and panel aim to create space for reflection and dialogue about how universities can remain places where ideas are tested, debated and explored with rigor and respect. 

About Jeffrey Rosen

Jeffrey Rosen is the CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic. He was previously the legal affairs editor of The New Republic and a staff writer for the New Yorker.

Rosen is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Pursuit of Happiness and Conversations with RBG. His new book is The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America.

Rosen is a graduate of Harvard College; Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School. He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute. In 2024, the French government recognized him as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.