A great way to get the word out about the importance of safeguarding liberty on campus is to invite a FIRE staffer to come speak at your campus. Sometimes FIRE staffers have come to discuss an ongoing case at a particular college, but more often than not, their speeches are at colleges where there is no pending case. On these occasions, the lectures serve as an educational primer to students and faculty about their rights on campus and as an explanation of some particularly egregious cases to demonstrate anecdotally the consequences of not vigilantly defending campus freedom.
Hosting a FIRE speaker is a great way to bring the ideas of liberty directly to students on your campus. All of the FIRE staff members below are ready and willing to speak on your campus. Please inquire at cfnevents@thefire.org or through our online form.
Liberty in Peril: Speech Codes on our Nation's College Campuses - This presentation is perfect for introducing audiences to the grave state of rights on many college campuses. The speech will highlight the current trends in campus liberty and discuss some of FIRE’s most egregious cases and how students and faculty can work together to avoid similar problems on their campus.
Unlearning Liberty – A speech by FIRE president Greg Lukianoff on how the illiberal campus attitudes towards free speech threatens our democracy.
Identifying Thought Reform on Campus – An increasingly prevalent concern on campus is the subtle introduction of thought reform efforts on college campuses, especially through residence life programs. Audiences will be provided insight into this tricky area and how they can be on the lookout for such affronts to individual rights on their campus.
How to Be Proactive About Student Rights – In this comprehensive presentation, audiences will learn about the various measures they can take to ensure that they are doing their best to protect students’ rights. A major portion of the lecture will focus on how student government constitutions and bylaws can be bolstered so as to afford students the most protections possible.
Viewpoint Neutrality in Student Fees and Student Group Recognition – One of the most visible aspects of student government is the distribution of student fees and the recognition of student organizations. It is important that student government representatives understand their moral and often constitutional obligations to treat all groups fairly. Throughout this presentation, students will be given examples where other student governments have gone astray as well as tips on bolstering their impartiality and that of their colleagues.
If you are interested in addressing a specific topic that is not addressed above, let us know when you request a speaker.
President
Greg Lukianoff is the President of FIRE and has been with FIRE since 2001, when he was hired to be the organization’s first director of legal and public advocacy. Greg is a graduate of American University and of Stanford Law School, where he focused on First Amendment and constitutional law. Greg has published articles in The Stanford Technology Law Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Fraternal Law, Inside Higher Ed, The Boston Globe, the New York Post, and numerous other publications. He is a blogger for the Huffington Post and served as a regular columnist for the Daily Journal of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Greg is a frequent guest on local and national syndicated radio programs, has represented FIRE on national television shows—including The O'Reilly Factor, Glenn Beck, The Abrams Report, Hannity and Colmes, and Buchanan and Press—and has testified before the U.S. Senate about free speech issues on America’s campuses.
Before joining FIRE, Greg practiced law in Northern California, interned at the ACLU of Northern California and the Organization for Aid to Refugees in Prague, Czech Republic, and was the development manager of the EnvironMentors Project in Washington, D.C. Greg, along with Harvey A. Silverglate and David French, is a co-author of FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus. Greg is also a proud member of the board of directors of Philadelphia’s Theater Exile.
Robert L. Shibley, FIRE's Vice President, is a native of Toledo, Ohio, and a graduate of Duke University and Duke University School of Law. Robert's undergraduate experience serving as the managing editor of the Duke Review newspaper, which frequently decried (and faced) administrative censorship and bias, led him to a career defending the rights of college and university students and faculty members. Since starting at FIRE in 2003, Robert has aided students and faculty members at dozens of colleges and universities. As Vice President, along with traveling to various campuses to speak about First Amendment issues, Robert has represented FIRE publicly in both national and international radio interviews and published editorials in the New York Post, Providence Journal, Daily Oklahoman, and other newspapers. He is also a member of the board of Valley Christian School in Huntingdon Valley, Pa.
William Creeley, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., graduated from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2003, where he earned a B.A. magna cum laude in political science and critical theory. He is also a 2006 graduate of the New York University School of Law. As an undergraduate, William was a student senator and the graduation speaker for both the Gallatin School graduation ceremony and the All-University Commencement. During law school, he served as an executive editor for the New York University Law Review. A former FIRE legal intern (2004), William also worked as a summer clerk for Federal Communications Commissioner Michael J. Copps in 2005.
Samantha K. Harris, a Philadelphia native, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and from Princeton University, where she earned an A.B. magna cum laude in politics. As an undergraduate, Samantha completed a senior thesis that analyzed the constitutional implications of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s quality-of-life initiative in New York City. During law school, she served on the editorial board of the Journal of Constitutional Law. Before joining FIRE, Samantha clerked for the late Honorable Jay C. Waldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and most recently was an associate at the law firm of Pepper Hamilton in Philadelphia.
Adam Kissel graduated from Harvard University and from the University of Chicago, where he served as Student Liaison to the Board of Trustees and earned an A.M. from the Committee on Social Thought. His academic interests include the history and theory of liberal education, the history and theory of rhetoric, and rhetoric’s relationship with philosophy. He also has served as a professional editor for Nobel laureate James Heckman and for faculty in a variety of disciplines. Before joining FIRE, Adam was a director of the Lehrman American Studies Center and the Jack Miller Center for the Teaching of America’s Founding Principles. With Sharon Browne he wrote a Faculty Rights Handbook in 2007.
Luke C. Sheahan of Lebanon, Oregon, graduated cum laude from the Honors College at Oregon State University, where he majored in political science with a minor in business administration. For three years he served as executive editor and publisher of The Liberty, a commentary paper at Oregon State, where he opposed the administration's speech codes and the bias within student government. During his time at Oregon State, Luke held executive positions and chairmanships in a number of student organizations as well as memberships in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key Honor Society, and Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society. He was also a 2005–2006 recipient of the Ronald Reagan Future Leaders Scholarship. Luke has spoken to various community groups on a number of topics and was a student panelist at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2006. Luke was a FIRE summer intern in 2005.
Brandon Stewart is a 2008 graduate of Wabash College, where he majored in Religion and minored in Political Science. As an undergraduate, Brandon served as a class representative to the Student Senate and president of both the Pre-Law Society and the Inter-Fraternity Council. In addition, he served as founder and editor-in-chief of a campus news and opinion magazine, The Phoenix. In addition to publishing a monthly magazine, Brandon's organization also brought a number of speakers to campus, including Feminists for Life Vice President Sally Winn, National Review editor-at-large Jonah Goldberg and former US Attorney General John Ashcroft. Brandon first learned of FIRE in 2006 when he brought Greg Lukianoff to speak on his campus.
